


Ingrid's Spiritual Journey

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Brother Bear (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23095330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: Ingrid wakes up one night and finds out about her destiny to go on a Spiritual Journey to be more connected with the animals of the forests she grows up in. She then summons Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent to come to join her as they reunite with Kenai and Koda who catch Spring Fever and end up meeting someone from Kenai's past who also needs their help. Happy Valentine's Day
Relationships: Kenai/Nita (Disney)





	1. Chapter 1

The story begins as Ingrid was shown to be with her little brother, Roshan. The two were playing happily together as their parents watched from nearby, looking very happy for them. However, something strange happened as Ingrid seemed to change from her human form. Her family looked concerned and brought out spears which made her feel confused before she soon came over to the lake to see her reflection and saw that she changed into a bear like Kenai and Koda which made her run away from her family as they seemed to hate her now. Ingrid soon ran as far as she could before she ended up on the edge of a cliff as her family chased her. She backed up a bit out of fear and soon yelled out as she fell from the cliff and seemed to fall for a while before she touched the ground. Before she hit the ground though, she soon woke up with a gasp, then touched her face and panted, touching her hair and felt her skin as she saw her little brother asleep in his own space before she crawled out of her tent, then checked her parents' tent to see that they were asleep too. She then checked the lake and saw her reflection and she was human again, but she was curious of why she dreamt of what she dreamt about.

"I have to talk to someone..." Ingrid said to herself before she decided to go talk with Tanana as she ran off, away from home, even though it was the middle of the night.

* * *

Tanana was seen still asleep until Ingrid came running into her tent. "Nana! Nana!" The girl cried out as she rushed over.

"Ingrid, child, it's late..." Tanana told the girl as she came out to see her.

"I know... I'm sorry..." Ingrid replied while panting a bit since she ran over. "I just had quite the dream."

"It must have been quite the dream if you came to me late at night." Tanana said.

"I am very sorry," Ingrid frowned. "I didn't think I could wait much longer."

"Please, child," Tanana then said as she allowed the girl to sit with her in the tent. "Tell me all about it."

Ingrid took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before she soon told Tanana everything about her dream which was unlike any other dream she probably had over the years, especially when she had to help Akito and Balto find Estelle and Aleu from when they first met each other.

"Hmm... Interesting... Very interesting..." Tanana soon replied.

"So what do you think it means, Nana?" Ingrid asked.

"It seems to me that it's time for you to go on a special journey," Tanana replied. "There's one coming up for another girl, a bit older than you though from another village. You say you turned into a bear, right?"

"Yeah... Almost like Kenai..." Ingrid nodded. "Though, for a different reason, I'm sure."

"Well, Ingrid, you know how important animals are to our culture, such as our totems, but there's more to it, especially for you as you help out for a new adventure for yourself and your future destiny." Tanana educated.

"Yeah?" Ingrid said.

"You were always a very special girl since birth," Tanana told Ingrid. "Especially in that accident that separated you away from your parents when you were young and you met the fox who took care of you until you met other humans."

"Yes..." Ingrid nodded. "The fox was always very motherly towards me."

"Yes, The Great Spirit saw this and it is about now time to reawaken the spiritual elements as you go on this new journey to meet the very special animals that you must meet," Tanana informed as she used pictures to help show Ingrid what had to be done. "The Spirits are unhappy with something going on in the other village which also concerns your journey. You will know what animals to look for and when you pass their elemental test, they will reward you until you find them all and what is done has to be done from our neighboring village. Do you understand, child?"

"I... I think I do, Nana..." Ingrid replied softly. "...Would it be alright if Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent came too? They are my very best friends in the human world. If they cannot, I will understand."

"Of course they can help you out, child," Tanana smiled. "They were really wonderful visitors from when Kenai was turned into a bear since Sitka decided it would be a good lesson for his brother to learn."

"Oh, thank you, Nana." Ingrid smiled back.

"You're very welcome, my dear," Tanana smiled before she hugged the girl. "Get some sleep and contact your friends."

"I will," Ingrid promised as she hugged back before she decided to go to the tent before looking back. "Oh, which animals will I have to look for during the quest?" she then asked.

"You will know them when you meet them," Tanana replied before showing her pictures of various animals. "They will tell you their elements too when you meet them, but they are as follows: Mapachin the Raccoon, Kitchi the Coyote, Miccro the Wolf, Ayla the Bear, Tokala the Fox, Sabath the Bat, Sonata the Owl, Chatan the Hawk, and Koi the Panther."

"Right." Ingrid nodded.

"Good luck, my child," Tanana smiled. "I believe in you."

"Thank you again, Nana." Ingrid smiled back as she went back to get some rest and use a special sleep method to contact Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent.

Kabutops soon came out of his PokeBall and tilted his head curiously at the girl.

"Sorry, Kabutops, I didn't mean to wake you." Ingrid whispered since Roshan was still asleep.

"What's wrong?" Kabutops whispered back.

"It's a long story, but it's about to get better after I talked with Nana," Ingrid replied quietly. "I'll tell you more about it in the morning, I promise."

"Okay." Kabutops whispered.

Ingrid soon laid back a bit and took a few deep breaths before her body began to glow.

* * *

Meanwhile, Felicity, Akito, Estelle, and Vincent were all fast asleep in their own beds before they all started to have the same dream as Ingrid brought them together in the Dream Realm to talk with them and the cousins soon yelped.

"Ingrid... It has been a while." Felicity remarked.

"It sure has," Ingrid nodded. "I feel that I may need your help in my home village in Alaska."

"Is something wrong?" Estelle asked.

"Well, Nana said there is a problem I have to solve, but I'm also to have my own spiritual journey," Ingrid replied. "Plus, you could probably think of this as a vacation if nothing too serious is happening." she then said bashfully.

"Well, okay." Akito said.

"Guess it beats staying around home," Felicity added. "Not much is happening over here."

"Now I see why my cat sleeps so much." Vincent smirked.

"So when do we leave?" Estelle asked,

"How about sometime after you wake up?" Ingrid suggested. "Kenai and Koda should be getting out of hibernation pretty soon. You remember Kenai and Koda, right?"

"Of course we do." Akito and Estelle beamed.

"I'm sure they would love to see you too then." Ingrid smiled at their excitement.

"Aww~" Estelle smiled back.

"Thanks, Ingrid," Vincent said. "It's been a little boring at home, but we look forward to coming to see you, Kenai, and Koda. Of course, if we could, Kabutops and Roshan as well."

Ingrid smiled brightly as she shared a hug with her friends as this was the start of a brand new adventure.

* * *

The next day soon came. Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent all woke up from their dream as they knew what they had to do. Ingrid also woke up with Roshan and Kabutops before they went to wake up their parents to start the day as winter was almost over.

"Mom! Dad! Wake up!" Ingrid smiled.

Runar and Nadia chuckled a bit.

"All right, we're coming," Nadia smiled. "You're in a good mood today."

"I feel like this is the start of a wonderful experience." Ingrid smiled back.

"Why can't we hibernate like the animals?" Runar teased.

"Because it's no longer winter." Ingrid smiled.

Nadia giggled a bit. "So it isn't," she then said. "Let's have some breakfast."

"Yeah!" Ingrid and Roshan both cheered.

The kids soon waited for their breakfast as Kabutops sat beside them while the adults prepared breakfast and which was fish.

"So... That's what happened." Ingrid soon told her Pokemon all about her dream.

"Knowing you, that dream was more than just a dream." Kabutops said knowingly.

"True." Ingrid nodded.

"Was it?" Kabutops asked.

"Yes, I talked with Nana last night before we fell back asleep," Ingrid replied. "A special destiny awaits for me once my friends come here and we see Kenai and Koda again after they went to hibernation for the winter."

"Great." Kabutops said.

"Now, kids, it's springtime, that means that love is in the air," Nadia told the children. "You might fall in love someday."

Roshan stuck his tongue out at the idea of falling in love.

"Hmm... I'm not so sure about that, Mother..." Ingrid shrugged, feeling the same way as her younger brother.

"You never know, Ingrid; you might fall in love." Runar said.

"Hmm..." Ingrid shrugged from that.

The family soon shared their breakfast with each other as other families woke up, especially the animals since winter was over and the snow was melting and the weather was getting warmer. And where that always welcomed a new day to everyone. There were some new animals born after hibernation in the forests.

* * *

Kenai and Koda laughed however as they were both sliding across in the snow like on slides on a playground. Kenai then even hit a fish like a football over to Koda. The caribou that drank from the water looked up from that as the fish went through the male's antlers like a field goal. Koda then jumped up in the air before catching the fish in his mouth as it flopped around as he landed in the water.

They were still playing around as they passed by a family of rams. The two bear brothers laughed as they tackled each other while running along the snow together. The young calves ran into each other like adult rams would to attract a ewe as their mate. Love seemed to be in the air for the animals as well as some humans as Ingrid's parents said. As Kenai and Koda made it up to a clifftop, they looked to the skies as a flock of geese flew off together in the shape of a V. They soon began to make their way down the clifftop.

Kenai then moved Koda up from the snowy ground onto a turned down tree that was like a bridge. Koda smiled from that as he walked about on the tree. Kenai smiled as he looked proud to become a good big brother to the bear cub. Koda waved at his new big brother before he yelped as he nearly fell off, but luckily his claws kept him steady as he ended up on the bottom side of the bark before he started to laugh as Kenai reached out to tickle him. Kenai soon helped Koda down from the tree before they continued their way through the forest. However, a couple of certain moose were soon rushing over as they looked a bit scared.

"Whoa!" Tuke panicked. "Look out! She's after us, eh!"

"Oh, jeez." Rutt added.

"You gotta help us!"

"You gotta hide us, eh."

"Oh, jeez. Too late. Here she comes!"

The two moose brothers then hid away in the bushes. Kenai and Koda looked curious and confused before the two moose bit on them and pulled them in through the bushes. And where soon, the one that the two moose were afraid of came running over to. A female bison soon came sniffing around before snorting in defeat as she went off on her own, luckily not seeing Rutt and Tuke.

"I told you that was no moosette." Tuke glared at his brother.

"Well, she looked like one from behind." Rutt glared back in defense.

"What's gotten into you two?" Kenai asked.

"Well, it's that time of year, eh?" Rutt replied.

"Spring Fever." Tuke added.

"Spring what?" Kenai asked out of confusion.

"Yeah, you know, like the birds." Tuke explained.

"Yeah, and the bees," Rutt added. "And the moosettes. If you know what we mean by moosettes."

"Yeah, well, don't look now, but your girlfriend's back." Kenai smirked at the two moose as he picked up Koda before putting him on his back and walking away.

"Oh, jeez!" Rutt and Tuke panicked before running.

The female bison soon charged after the two moose brothers as Kenai walked off with Koda.

* * *

Ingrid began to walk around the snow with Roshan and Kabutops as they waited for Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent to come over, so they decided to visit Kenai and Koda until then before they soon saw Kenai and Koda were going down the snow before ending up at a frozen lake.

"Incoming!" Ingrid called out.

Kabutops began to protect Ingrid and Roshan, though luckily they didn't have much to worry about as it was just good, clean fun. The two soon slid out onto the ice as Kenai fell flat on his stomach and Koda slid between Tug's legs who just laughed it off before the bear cub then slid right into a snowbank, passing by two bears who sat together on the frozen lake.

"Awesome!" Koda laughed as he came out of the snow. "Let's do it again!"

Roshan giggled as he began to clap his hands at how much fun that looked. A magical portal soon seemed to appear before Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent came out on the frozen lake, though they yelped as they slipped and slid a bit before they fell on top of each other.

"It had to be an ice landing..." Vincent sighed in deadpan. "Oh, sure... You could've magicked us up in a cave or the ground... No, no, you had to magic us up in the middle of the ice!"

"I'm still learning." Akito shrugged in defense.

"Besides, at least we didn't fall through the ice." Estelle shrugged.

"Yeah, Vince," Felicity smirked. "We're lucky that didn't happen."

Vincent let out a small groan.

"Hey, guys!" Ingrid called out to the four.

"Hey, Ingrid!" The four called back.

Kenai smiled, happy that his little brother had fun. Ingrid helped out her friends along the ice before they came to see Roshan as he giggled a bit.

"Hey, Kenai." Tug smiled at the former young man turned into a bear.

"Hiya, Tug." Kenai smiled back.

"Where y'all off to in such a hurry?" Tug then asked.

"Crowberry Ridge." Kenai replied.

"We're gonna get dibs!" Koda beamed as he slid by suddenly until Kenai caught him before he would slide too far away before he listed all different kinds of berries. "There's elderberries, salmonberries, raspberries, whortleberries, strawberries, huckleberries, crowberries-"

"Hey, hey, slow down now," Tug chuckled. "That's a lot of berries."

"Oh, yeah." Ingrid agreed.

"Oh, hey, Ingrid," Kenai said. "We see you brought your other friends over."

"It's been a while, guys." Koda added.

"Great to see you again, guys," Felicity replied. "I guess it has been a while since our last adventure together."

"Sure has." Estelle said.

"You guys wanna get some berries with us?" Koda asked hopefully.

"Yoo-hoo! Tug!~" A female bear soon called out with a friendly wave.

"Well, I'd love to, little Koda, but can't keep the girls waiting." Tug told the young bear cub.

"Aw, who needs girls?" Koda rolled his eyes. "We're two footloose guys out on the tundra."

"That's right. Kenai and Koda," Kenai added. "We don't need anybody else."

"We'll join you guys." Vincent said.

"Well, that sounds great to me!" Koda beamed.

The others smiled at his excitement.

"Okay, but you can't run from love." Tug advised Kenai.

"Tug!" The female bear continued to call out.

"It has a way of tracking you down," Tug continued before he chuckled and came to the adult female bear. "Hi, Hoonah. You look mighty lovely today."

"Love is an amazing thing." Akito smiled.

"Yep." Vincent nodded.

"Hmm... I'm not sure about love myself." Ingrid said.

"I feel that way sometimes too." Felicity replied.

"Flick, what about Chip?" Estelle piped up.

"...He's my best friend." Felicity blushed.

"He might be more than that." Vincent whispered to Ingrid.

Ingrid giggled slightly.

"Come on, guys," Koda smiled. "Let's have those berries."

"Sure, let's go." Felicity nodded from that as they walked off together.

"Let's." Akito nodded back.

Roshan smiled up at the others.

"Aww... Your little brother," Estelle cooed before she picked up Roshan. "Hello, do you remember me?"

Roshan laughed happily and hugged her as he seemed to remember her.

"You've come a long way since Manny, Sid, and Diego, huh?" Estelle beamed. "Yes, you did. Yes, you did."

"Yep," Ingrid smiled. "He sure has."

"How have those guys been by the way?" Vincent asked. "It's been a while from those guys too."

"Well, Ellie and Manny are getting really close." Ingrid replied.

"That's good." Estelle smiled.

"I guess my parents were right about love being in the air." Ingrid said as they walked along.

Estelle carried Roshan for Ingrid as they walked off after Kenai and Koda.

* * *

"Did you see the look on Tug's face?" Koda laughed. "'Can't keep the girls waiting'." he then imitated the older bear before making kissy sounds.

"All right," Kenai chuckled from that. "How about we get some rest?"

"Rest? We've been hibernating for six months," Koda replied. "Who needs rest?"

"Who needs rest?" Kenai repeated. "A couple of bears who are gonna beat all the other bears to Crowberry Ridge."

"He's right." Vincent smiled.

"And... And... And we're gonna get first dibs on the berries, right?" Koda asked his big brother eagerly.

"Yeah, you bet," Kenai smirked as he got comfortable. "If you promise to go to sleep."

"Okay, okay," Koda replied as he got comfortable with him before he spoke up again. "I know all bears like berries, but I love berries."

"Good night, Koda." Kenai smirked.

Koda nodded and looked asleep for a minute before he woke up again. "Are you a berry-liker or a berry-lover?" he then asked.

"Good night, Koda." Kenai repeated as the moon came out into the sky.

"Let's hope he'll go to sleep." Vincent whispered to the others.

"I'll help you guys get comfortable and warm." Ingrid told her human friends.

"I guess it'll be good to get some berries too," Estelle said. "After all, they're good and good for you."

"Yeah, they sure are," Ingrid smiled warmly as she helped them get comfy, especially her little brother. "Love might be in the air for everybody else, but I'm more looking forward to the berries than anything like that."

"What about those animals you have to look for during your quest?" Kabutops asked her.

"Well... Those too..." Ingrid replied as she crossed her arms. "I can multitask."

"You are definitely not a normal young girl." Kabutops remarked.

"Quest?" Felicity asked. "What quest?"

Ingrid looked over bashfully.

"Nana says she has to go on a special quest to find these animals that will give her special powers." Kabutops told Felicity.

"Wow... That sounds pretty impressive..." Felicity smiled.

"It really does." Estelle added.

"Hmm... I guess we'll find out later..." Ingrid said before yawning. "But right now... Sleep time."

"Yeah, I can see the moon from here." Felicity said as she glanced towards the sky.

"Bedtime." Akito smiled.

Soon, Ingrid and Roshan got comfortable with their fellow (mostly) human friends and they began to get to sleep with Kenai and Koda. Kenai then began to have a very interesting dream once he fell asleep with his new little brother which was a memory of something that happened a long time ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Two young kids, around Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Felicity, and Ingrid's age were shown.

A boy rushed over with a happy smile as he held a spear with an amulet around his neck before he called out. "NITA!"

"KENAI!" The girl called back to him, revealing who the young boy was.

The two soon happily ran off together and laughed as they chased away some birds as they began to play together. It soon seemed like that nothing would ruin their fun. Kenai eventually knocked Nita down playfully before he then laughed from that.

Nita then growled as she got back up and grabbed her spear, running past him. "Race ya to Hokani Falls!" she then told him.

"Wait up!" Kenai laughed as he chased after his friend.

The two of us began to race each other to Hokani Falls. They even used their spears to long jump as they came by the waterfalls together, laughing and having fun all the way like any other friends would with each other. However, Nita's spear went too far in the ice and it began to crack and crumble underneath her which made her scream as she soon fell into the water.

"Nita!" Kenai cried out.

Nita struggled as she began to sink to the bottom, unable to swim back up to save herself. Kenai soon swam after her, being as brave as he could be before he brought her out of the water and decided to make a fire and help keep her as warm as possible as she was now freezing cold. The girl soon let out a sneeze due to how cold she was.

Kenai wasn't sure what more he could do for his friend before he looked at the amulet he wore around his neck, then smiled as he decided to give it to her as a gift. "Here." he then told her and soon let her wear it as they sat by the warm fire.

Nita smiled after that before standing up and began to draw something on the wall. Kenai looked curious of what it was before he smiled a bit once he saw what it was. It appeared to be a drawing of the two of them together as friends.

"We're always gonna be best friends, huh?" Nita smiled back at him hopefully.

Kenai beamed as he felt touched by that. They soon saw something bright in the sky. The two kids flinched from the bright light before they left the cave to explore it. Outside, there appeared to be the Northern Lights which was always a beautiful sight for one to see.

"Ooh." Nita and Kenai smiled before the lights seemed to be melting the snow away and making it beautiful and warm outside as the seasons changed.

"Nita, time to come home!" A man's voice called out.

"Goodbye, Kenai." Nita said softly at her friend.

Kenai frowned softly at that before laughing as Nita laughed with him and playfully punched his arm before she ran off to join the man who was her father.

"See ya!" Nita called out as she went home with her father with a kayak.

"Bye, Nita!" Kenai called back.

Nita soon rode away with her father in the water while Kenai seemed to be all alone.

"Bye, Nita." Kenai repeated softly.

* * *

Kenai soon was shown to be dreaming as he said Nita's name in his sleep before the others woke up before Ingrid woke up before the others to find a white dove who appeared to be sitting on her stomach, waiting for her to wake up.

"Hello, there." Ingrid smiled quietly to the dove.

"Hello, there, you seem quite peaceful most of the time." The dove said to Ingrid.

"I try," Ingrid smiled. "Especially in my busy life with giving my friends important and special dreams to help them pursue in their adventurous lifestyles."

"That is why you deserve my Element of Peace," The dove replied. "My name is Cheona."

Ingrid smiled as she found the first animal and received her first element.

"I see goodness in your heart and a bright future for yourself." Chenoa approved.

"Thank you, Chenoa," Ingrid smiled as she gently petted the dove. "I look forward to this adventure."

"And I'm happy that you do." Chenoa smiled back.

The others began to wake up from their sleep.

"I should get going," Chenoa suggested. "Good luck on your journey."

"Thank you, Chenoa, I won't forget this." Ingrid smiled as the dove soon flew away.

* * *

As the others woke up, they heard Kenai calling out Nita's name in his sleep. Ingrid soon picked up Roshan and carried him out as the others came to surround Kenai. Kenai soon woke up and looked around a bit.

"So who's Nita?" Koda smiled curiously as his big brother woke up.

"Huh? What?" Kenai asked as he looked over to see Koda and the others.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Koda asked. "You were going, 'Nita! Nita!'," he then explained before asking again. "So who's Nita?"

"Oh... Uh... She's a girl I used to know." Kenai replied bashfully.

"Whatever happened to her?" Vincent asked.

"I don't know," Kenai replied as he began to walk off. "I guess she grew up."

Koda looked curious before following after him.

"Ingrid, do you know Nita?" Vincent asked.

"I don't think I do..." Ingrid shook her head. "I once heard of a superhero though called Apache Chief."

"Maybe with any luck, we'll meet him." Akito smiled.

They soon walked off together to get to the berries like Kenai had promised Koda as Kabutops walked beside Ingrid while she made sure that Roshan was secure.

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in a different village..._ **

Everybody was slowly waking up as a brand new day had started for them.

"He's here! He's here!" One kid called out, rushing through the village with another as they passed by the adults.

"The groom is here!" The other kid added.

"We must hurry," A woman suggested as she and the other villagers walked off together. "Let us prepare."

"Hurry up! I wanna see him!" One kid spoke up. "I wanna see Atka."

"Nita, he's here!" The other kid called out.

A teenage girl soon looked outside. The villagers surrounded the strong-looking young man who came to visit, along with some new villagers.

"They're here," A villager suggested. "Prepare for the ceremonies."

"He must have brought his entire village with him." Nita said before she was joined by her aunts, the blue-coated one being named Siqiniq and the shorter, red-coated one being named Taqqiq.

"Well, my sweet, this marriage is extremely important." Siqiniq told her niece.

"That's why we came to help you get ready~" Taqqiq added.

"Oh, no, no, it's okay; I can get myself ready." Nita said as she began to splash a little water in her face before drying it off.

Some water then suddenly splashed on her which made her flinch with how cold it was.

"Ah, go ahead. Use all the water," Taqqiq said as she had splashed the water. "Then we'll just air dry your hair."

"Air dry? Certainly not," Siqiniq replied as she used a towel to dry Nita's hair which ended up making it look wild and unruly. "Towel dry is shinier."

"You know--" Nita started.

"We'll put your hair up to show off your beautiful eyes." Taqqiq soon suggested as she combed her niece's hair.

"Up?" Siqiniq replied as she brushed Nita's hair down. "No, down, of course, to frame that beautiful face."

"No, we're gonna put it up to show it off better." Taqqiq argued.

"Down." Siqiniq argued back.

"Up." Taqqiq replied as the two soon tried to take care of Nita's hair at the same time.

And where one side of her hair was down while the other side of her hair was left in a bun style. "Uh..." Nita blinked at her two aunts.

"Oh, she's nervous," Taqqiq suggested. "She needs to eat. I'll go get some smoked salmon."

"But I--" Nita tried to tell them.

"Salmon? On a nervous stomach?" Siqiniq replied to her sister. "She needs hackberry root steeped in rainwater."

"In the morning? No!" Taqqiq retorted.

"No, no, it's okay; I think I'll be fine when I'm dressed." Nita said as she began to get her hair styled her own way.

"Dressed?!" The two gasped before they rushed over to get something for their niece to wear.

"I have just the outfit for you." Taqqiq smiled hopefully.

"Oh, but you don't understand," Nita told them. "I already have something picked out."

"Subtle reindeer hide, subtle yet elegant." Siqiniq said as she showed a dark pink dress.

"No, caribou," Taqqiq argued as she brought out a yellow dress along with a beaded necklace. "Feathers. Lots of beads."

"Beads?" Siqiniq glared at her sister as she put the other dress on Nita. "Are you nuts?"

The two sisters soon began to fight over a necklace of shells.

"Reindeer for a wedding?"

"No more beads."

"Seashells, then."

"What is it with you and your seashells?"

"I love seashells!"

"Hey!" Nita soon called out which made the two older women stop fighting and she smiled sheepishly at them so that she could get rid of them. "I do believe I am feeling a bit hungry."

"I'll get the salmon." Taqqiq smiled as they dropped the shell necklace and walked off together.

"I'll get the tea." Siqiniq added as she followed her out.

"Okay, get plenty of both." Nita told them.

Taqqiq and Siqiniq waved to her before going off to get both salmon and tea.

Nita waved back before laughing from what happened.

"Hello?" A voice called. "Are you decent?"

"Just a moment, Micco," Nita replied as she began to get herself adjusted as she knew that voice anywhere as she took off the dresses and beads that her aunts gave her before she got up to take out the dress she wanted to wear for her wedding. "Alright, you can come in now." she then allowed.

A young man soon walked in with a red band tied around his head and he had a head of long black hair as he smiled at her. "Look at you, so grown up," he said to her. "It seems like just yesterday I became a big brother."

"I'm sure Father feels the same way." Nita replied as she soon put on the dress that she wanted to wear which belonged to someone very special.

"You look as beautiful in that dress as your mother did on our wedding day." An older man said as he soon came into the tent to see them, though mostly Nita.

"Thanks, Dad; I wanted to wear something of hers today." Nita smiled as she got her hair into a bun style.

"You almost look like her right now." Micco smiled back.

"Thank you, Micco." Nita said to her brother.

"Oh, that means so much to me," Chief Chilkoot smiled fondly at his daughter. "Your mother would be so proud."

"I wish she was here." Nita said softly.

Micco nodded as he felt the same way.

"Oh, she is," Chief Chilkoot reassured as he put his hand on his heart. "In here."

Micco wiped his eyes a bit emotionally before Nita hugged her father and brother emotionally.

"Once you love someone, they stay in your heart forever." Chief Chilkoot continued as he hugged his adult children.

They soon heard the beating of drums.

"Are you ready to meet Atka?" Chief Chilkoot soon asked his daughter.

Micco smiled as he walked out ahead of them before his father and sister linked arms as it was time for the wedding to begin.

* * *

The rest of the wedding music was soon heard playing as some people were dancing around. A group of four people began to dance around, dressed like animals as it was part of the ceremony. Micco smiled as he stood in the crowd, though some women looked drawn to him and hoped they could marry him next. Siqiniq and Taqqiq grinned hopefully from the crowd as they held out salmon and tea to show Nita. Nita smiled back to them while walking down with her father. The dancers then got out of the way to show a man at the end of the aisle who was Nita's future husband and he wore war paint on his face.

Chief Chilkoot soon let go of Nita to let her embrace with Atka as he soon raised his arms to make the music stop. "Great Spirits, we come before you today to bond this man and this woman as one," he then announced to the heavens so that his daughter could get married. "We pray that this pleases you." he then said as he soon joined his people before Atka held his hand out to Nita who was about to accept his hand.

Once Nita reached out however, there was suddenly a bolt of lightning. Black clouds then invaded the skies like a storm was coming which deeply concerned the villagers over what was happening. Lightning flashed and struck a cliff overhead of them before it broke off a boulder which fell off and hit the ground, making a huge crack appear in the ground and it soon separated Atka and Nita. Atka soon tried to go over to his future wife only for the ground to spread further.

"Nita!" Chiltook cried out in worry.

"Something is wrong..." Micco said to himself. "The Spirits are unhappy about something."

The ground kept shaking until finally it stopped, showing Nita alone except a path for Micco to follow up to her.

"Sister, the spirits are trying to tell us something," Micco said as he came up to his distressed sister. "We must get some professional help."

"You mean, we should see the shaman?" Nita asked softly.

"Yes, we should go right now." Micco advised.

"Right." Nita nodded.

* * *

And so, after traveling for a while up to the shaman, they made it to her home.

"Innoko?" Micco called.

"I'm here!" A female voice called back from inside as she made a fire as she seemed to be rummaging around her home. "Now, just gimme a minute and tell me what's on your mind."

"I don't understand," Nita sighed about what had just happened. "How could this happen? The villagers say it's a sign."

"The villagers?" Innoko scoffed before she found a spider by its web before she seemed to eat it. "What the heck do they know? Do you want the advice of the villagers or a professional?" she then asked.

"Oh, no, definitely a professional." Micco smiled sheepishly.

"Yes," Nita added. "They say that in all the tribes, you are the wisest shaman."

"Sha _woman_ ," Innoko told Nita. "Okay? 'Wise' and 'man' don't belong in the same sentence. Let's get down to business. Nita, so the ground cracked from under you; have you put on a few pounds?"

Micco looked slightly offended from the "wise and man" comment, but kept it to himself.

"Come on, girl-to-girl." Innoko urged Nita.

"No, my weight's been constant." Nita defended.

"Well, lucky you, Miss Constant Weight," Innoko replied before she tossed in some herbs into the fire. "Tell you what. Why don't we just ask the spirits, okay?"

There was then a huge gush of smoke and flames from the fires so that Innoko could speak to the other side.

"Hmm... Uh-huh. Yeah." Innoko said as she put a shell to her ear to listen to what was going on.

"What are they saying?" Nita whispered to Innoko.

"Don't interrupt," Innoko scolded her. "It ain't all about you."

Micco and Nita shared a look with each other from that.

"Uh-huh... They say..." Innoko soon said before she exclaimed at the girl. "You can't marry Ka-ka!"

" _At_ ka." Nita and Micco corrected.

"Whatever," Innoko replied. "The point is, you're already matched up, Miss Two-Timer."

"Already married to who?" Nita asked.

"To the one who gave you this," Innoko stated before a picture of a certain amulet appeared through the flames. "Look at that picture. That thing is crystal clear."

"Kenai?" Nita muttered to herself.

"The bear boy?" Innoko replied.

"Oh, no, no," Nita smiled bashfully. "We were just kids."

"I've heard that one before." Innoko smirked.

"Kenai... I haven't heard from him in so long..." Micco remarked.

"Oh, there has to be a way to undo this." Nita groaned a bit.

"Undo it? You can't undo what's been done," Innoko told her. "It's done. Case closed. No more conversation." she then clapped her hands.

Suddenly, the cave shook a bit as the flames danced a bit more.

"Ooh! There _is_ one way..." Innoko then said from that as she listened closely before she told Nita what to do next. "You must go and **EAT AN OX!** "

"What?!" Nita and Micco asked out of confusion.

"Oh, wait, I'm sorry," Innoko said before she took out the shell as a hearing horn before she corrected herself. "It's the equinox!"

A waterfall was soon shown through the flames that looked very familiar.

"Does this place mean anything to you?" Innoko rhetorically asked Nita.

"Hokani Falls?" Nita replied. "That's where Kenai gave me the amulet."

"So, she has to go to Hokani Falls?" Micco asked.

"Not just her; you'll be going with her." Innoko told him.

"Okay, so what does she have to do once we get there?" Micco asked.

"On the eve of the equinox, when the spirits change winter into spring, Nita must burn the amulet and send the bond back up to the ancestors!" Innoko continued before he took a look at the siblings. "You know, one of you might wanna write some of this down."

"The equinox is only three days away," Nita gasped as she soon got up to leave with Micco. "We have to get going."

"Uh, not just with your brother, but with the person who gave you the amulet." Innoko stopped them.

"Kenai? But he's a bear." Nita said.

"Yeah?" Innoko replied, not sure what the problem was.

"You know... A bear?" Nita explained before growling and roaring like a bear.

"Uh, I _know_ what a bear is, and I suggest you go look in the woods." Innoko stated like it was obvious.

"I don't think you understand," Micco sighed. "Even if we find him, how will we talk to him?"

"Hmm... How _will_ you talk to him?" Innoko paused thoughtfully before she had an idea and soon sent some fuel to the fire.

The fire then became magical before some rose to the roof of the cave before a bear-shaped puff of smoke came out and hit both Micco and Nita instantly.

"Go on, talk, it's in there." Innoko said.

Nita and Micco looked at each other before they soon tried to speak, but they soon sounded like a mammoth trumpeting which made them both cup their mouths sheepishly.

"That ain't it," Innoko told the two. "Come on, try it again."

Nita and Micco then tried again, but sounded like chipmunks chattering that time.

"Ooh! I don't know what that was," Innoko chuckled. "One more time."

Nita and Micco soon tried one last time and then roared like a couple of bears. Their bear roars were soon heard in the forest and the birds began to fly off.

"I also see a great future for you other than helping your sister." Innoko said to Micco.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Micco smiled bashfully. "It might explain this dream I've been having lately."

"A dream?" Nita asked. "What was your dream?"

"That I'm destined to become a great and brave hero," Micco proclaimed. "Just not for our village, but for the whole world."

"Yep," Innoko nodded. "Anyway, you two better get going."

"Thank you again, Innoko," Micco replied. "We'll get that amulet taken care of so my little sister can get married."

"Goodbye." Nita added as they began to leave.

Innoko waved to them as it was time for the two to start their own adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day soon came. Kenai and Koda were soon walking along the snowy path with their old friends.

"And that mammoth stood there watching the whole thing," Koda told the others a story which seemed to take a while. "So I told Bucky, 'The next time you have to sneeze, please take the walnuts out of your mouth first'. Oh, and then I started laughing so hard, guess what came out of my nose?" he then asked them.

Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent looked at each other from that.

"Uh, Koda, speaking of food...?" Kenai spoke up.

"I know what you mean," Koda replied. "All this walking has made me crazy hungry." he then sniffed the ground a bit before he found a spot and began to dig it up like a dog.

Kenai smirked as he got Koda to stop digging so he could dig the rest of the way. "All right, step aside, kid, and let a real bear show you how the digging's done." he then told his little brother.

"Sure it's easy now," Koda replied. "I gave you a head start."

"Oh, did ya now?" Felicity teased.

"Yeah!" Koda smiled as she then laughed.

"Jackpot," Kenai smiled as he found some food for him and Koda. "All the roots you can eat, buddy."

"I knew I was onto something." Koda smiled back.

"Sure you were." Akito teased.

"Ah, what can I say?" Koda replied. "I've got killer instincts."

"Yeah, right." Kenai rolled his eyes playfully before they would begin to eat.

"I'll see if I can find some food for you guys." Ingrid told her human friends.

"Great." Vincent smiled.

* * *

Ingrid soon came to check the bushes for some berries.

"I really admire your closeness and guidance to your friends." A raccoon said to Ingrid as it was in the bushes.

"Heh... Well, yes," Ingrid replied. "They're new around this sort of environment, so it's my job to guide them."

"You have a deep resemblance to my element of guidance," The raccoon said to her. "My name is Mapachin."

"It's nice to meet you." Ingrid smiled.

"You must be the one going on the spiritual journey." Mapachin said to her.

"Yes, I am," Ingrid nodded. "Does this mean I have your element now?"

"Yes, you do," Mapachin replied. "Just be very careful. This is going to be a strange new adventure for you and all of your friends."

"I will." Ingrid nodded.

"Good luck, young one." Mapachin said before he disappeared.

Ingrid looked surprised at that before she then decided to collect some berries and other safe foods she found for her friends, though Koda began to sense something.

"Oh, hey, look, is this a tuber?" Kenai asked the bear cub as he carried something in his mouth.

"Get down!" Koda gasped as he jumped on Kenai's head before coming to the other side to look out.

"What is it?" Kenai asked his little brother.

Felicity began to look concerned. Koda continued to sniff for a while before he and Kenai took a look through the woods as they both sensed danger.

"Is it a hunter?" Estelle wondered.

"I think so." Akito nodded.

They soon saw two hunters and where it seemed only one of them had a spear.

"Oh, no." Felicity whispered worriedly.

"Quick, hide in here!" Kenai told Koda as he put the bear cub into the log beside him as he ducked down to hide.

"What should we do?" Estelle whispered to the others.

"Hide away." Vincent suggested.

"But I'm gonna scare those hunters way too." Akito then decided firmly.

"No." Vincent shook his head.

"No?!" Akito glanced at his brother.

* * *

They then got very quiet suddenly as it looked like one of the hunters was passing them. Koda looked and felt scared as he hid in the log, even more so as the hunter soon stepped on top of the log he was inside of and as he walked a little in the log, it creaked. The hunter acted quickly and brought out the spear firmly. Kenai panicked at that since Koda was just a little cub and soon came up to the hunter and roared loudly at the hunter, knocking the hunter away from the log with a swat of his paw to keep them away from Koda. And before he could get closer to the hunter, the first hunter blocked his path and looked ready to handle him as he shouted some words before growing bigger.

"What's happening?" Estelle whimpered and shook with her eyes closed. "I can't watch."

Akito held onto his twin sister protectively before looking over in shock. "Whoa!"

Kenai looked surprised at the other hunter growing so large, but still growled as he had to protect his little brother from the hunters.

"That hunter must be 50 feet tall." Felicity said.

The bigger hunter protected the fallen hunter as best as he could. Kenai growled as he tried to swat at the bigger hunter, but that wouldn't do much.

"It can't be... Unless... That's Apache Chief...?" Ingrid muttered to herself.

Akito soon went to handle the bigger hunter. The bigger hunter glared from under his hood as he came to also deal with Akito. The other hunter began to creep away, though she tripped a bit and hit the ground before she looked up as her hood slid down to show her face.

"...Nita?" Kenai tilted his head at the female hunter as she looked familiar.

Nita soon got scared and hit him with her spear handle because she thought he was just a regular bear. The bigger hunter soon did his best to handle Akito which wasn't a problem for him.

"Go away!" Akito glared. "These bears have done nothing to you! It's people like you that make me mad!"

The bigger hunter gave him a bit of a look.

"Ow! Watch it!" Kenai cried out as he tried to stop the hunter that tried to get him as he knew who this hunter was. "Hey, no, Nita! It's me, Kenai."

The bigger hunter looked surprised when he heard that as he looked down at Kenai.

"What's the big idea, Gigantor?" Akito glared at the bigger hunter as he looked so tiny compared to him.

"Kenai?" Nita asked the bear in front of her. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's really me." Kenai smiled as the bigger hunter heard his voice.

"Kenai!" The bigger hunter looked relieved before he shrunk down and Akito fell in the snow from that.

"Whoa! Hey!" Akito complained as he fell in the snow.

* * *

The bigger hunter was soon shown as Micco.

"Micco, is that you too?" Kenai asked.

"In the flesh," Micco chuckled as he looked at the bear. "Well... I guess you really are a bear... That's just... Wow."

"Yeah," Nita added. "We heard you were a bear, but I didn't realize you'd look so much like a bear."

"Well, yeah, but what about you two? You've both really changed." Kenai said before looking surprised. "Wait, you can talk. I mean both of you can understand me?"

"Yeah," Nita nodded. "The spirits did it so when we found you, we could talk to you."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute," Kenai replied. "You... You've been looking for me? Why?" he then asked them.

"Well, this is why," Micco said. "Show him, Nita."

Nita then reached into her bag and brought out the amulet to show Kenai.

"You've kept this? After all these years..." Kenai smiled after seeing the amulet.

"The great spirits told our shaman that this amulet bonds us as one." Nita explained.

"Really?" Kenai smiled.

"So now you and I have to go to Hokani Falls--" Nita continued.

"Together?" Kenai beamed out of excitement. "Like when we were kids?"

"And burn it." Nita soon concluded.

"And burn it!" Kenai repeated until he realized what she just said. "Burn it? What?"

"It's no big deal," Nita told him. "It's only a little trinket."

"Little trinket?" Kenai asked with a slight glare.

"Ooh. I don't think Kenai liked that very much." Akito said as he patted some snow off of his clothes.

"Uh, well, what I mean is, we were just silly kids." Nita explained.

Kenai growled a bit from that.

"They won't let Nita get married until it's destroyed." Micco added.

"Uh... Well, then." Akito said in surprise.

"You okay, Akito?" Estelle asked her twin brother.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," Akito replied. "Just annoyed with that big guy."

"Hmm... Let me think about this," Kenai said to Nita as he paused for a few seconds. "Sorry, can't help you." he then told her.

"What?" Nita gasped from that.

"So, have fun burning the silly little trinket on your own." Kenai told her in a huff.

"Kenai, you don't understand; you have to come with her to Hokani Falls and burn the amulet or else it won't work." Micco said.

"What won't work?" Koda asked the others as they soon came to see Nita, Micco, and Kenai.

"Uh, Nita, this is my brother, Koda. Koda, Nita, Micco. Nita, Micco, Koda," Kenai quickly introduced. "Also that's Akito, Estelle, and Vincent Fudo with their cousin, Felicity Forte, and a kid from my village, Ingrid, with her Kabutops."

"So, you're Nita," Koda said. "Kenai was just dreaming about you."

"That makes sense to me." Micco chuckled a bit.

"I was not." Kenai said as Nita giggled herself.

"Was too," Koda smirked. "You should hear him. 'Nita. Nita'." he then imitated.

"Well, it's been nice talking to you, but Koda and I have big plans to go to Crowberry Ridge." Kenai said as he covered Koda's muzzle before moving the bear cub to sit on his back.

"Kenai, you're really not going to help?" Felicity asked.

"Nope." Kenai replied.

"Kenai!" The others scolded.

"I don't see why I should." Kenai shrugged at them.

Nita looked a bit firm with her old friend. "You know, neither of us can get on with our lives until we burn this amulet." she then told him.

"I'll take my chances." Kenai replied.

* * *

Akito glared before getting an idea before whispering it to the others. The others listened as Kenai decided to keep walking away with Koda, even though his old best friend needed his help and once they heard Akito's idea, they knew that would do the trick into getting Kenai to going to Hokani Falls with them. Nita and Micco looked curious of what was going to happen next.

"Okay, fine, Kenai," Akito acted a bit. "I guess we'll wait for your ancestral spirits to turn you back into a human to send you to find Nita."

This soon caught Koda's attention as he got off Kenai's back. Kenai looked concerned about Koda getting off like that.

"Would they do that?" Koda asked his big brother.

"No," Kenai shook his head. "No, buddy, of course not."

"Well, how can you be sure?" Micco asked.

Kenai looked soft from that.

"What if they did turn you back into a man?" Koda then asked sadly. "Then we wouldn't be brothers anymore."

"Oh, Koda..." Ingrid frowned for the bear cub while Roshan also looked unhappy from that.

"No, Koda, it's... That's not..." Kenai tried to tell Koda, though he sighed a bit as he thought about it before he felt like he had to give in to Nita and Micco's offer. "Hmm... Fine. Okay. We'll go to Hokani Falls, but right after that, buddy, just the two of us, we'll race down to Crowberry Ridge." he then told his little brother.

"Pinkie swear?" Koda asked him.

"Pinkie swear." Kenai smiled before they laughed and made it official.

"Then it's settled," Nita remarked. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Kenai heaved a sharp sigh before he walked off one way.

"Um... Hokani Falls is this way." Micco said to the bear.

"I knew that. I knew that." Kenai muttered as he went the other way.

"Just try to be patient, Kenai, it's the right thing to do." Ingrid told the bear as noble as she could.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Kenai rolled her eyes. "Just try to catch up."

* * *

Ingrid continued to get some food with Roshan for their trip before a fox tail came out of the bushes, touching her face. "Hello, there." She then greeted.

"Don't you recognize me?" The female fox smirked at her. "I found you when you lost your memories during that wolf quest that Balto had to go on to find his daughter while that boy was looking for his sister."

"Oh, Tokala!" Ingrid beamed as she hugged the fox who nuzzled in her touch. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I'll always be around." Tokala smiled.

"I missed you so much," Ingrid said to the female fox. "Even though I've found my family. I must stay true to them of course and help my friends whenever they may need me."

"Yes, Ingrid, you are very noble," Tokala smiled warmly. "Just like me."

"Does she get an element then?" Kabutops asked.

"Of course she does," Tokala smiled. "She was born especially with it."

Ingrid briefly glowed and beamed as she hugged the female fox again. "Thank you so much, Tokala."

"Of course, my child," Tokala replied. "Also, you might wanna check your underarm, just a suggestion." she then winked as she suggested something.

Ingrid looked curious before doing just that. On Ingrid's arms, there appeared to be prints of a dove, a raccoon, a fox.

"See?" Tokala smiled.

"What do these marks mean?" Ingrid asked the fox.

"Those are you receiving the elements of the animals such as myself," Tokala smiled. "You will also be rewarded once you meet all of the animals you have to meet during your adventure."

"Great." Ingrid smiled back.

"Good luck, Ingrid, but I don't think you need it." Tokala smiled.

"I missed you so much," Ingrid smiled back as she hugged the fox one last time. "I gotta go."

"Goodbye, Ingrid." Tokala told the girl, nuzzling in the hug before the girl let go of her to keep on going.

"Here we go." Kabutops said.

* * *

"I hope I have plenty of food for you guys." Ingrid said to her friends as she carried a sack.

"I'm sure it'll tide us over," Estelle smiled. "This should be a fun journey."

"Yeah, even though _someone_ turned into a human giant all of a sudden." Akito remarked with a glance at Micco.

"You can thank my grandfather." Micco said.

"Yeah?" Akito asked.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Micco replied.

Akito looked curious, but shrugged at that as they kept going.


	4. Chapter 4

Soon, the group had kept walking for quite a while as a chipmunk began to eat some acorns before running off.

"'Course, when we met, he didn't know the first thing about being a bear," Koda told Nita and Micco a story as they walked along a path together. "Like this one time, we were hunting for pine nuts, and he stuck his big head inside a hollow tree. And I said, 'You better not do that 'cuz you don't know who lives there', but he did, 'cuz you can't tell Kenai nothing."

"So what happened?" Felicity asked.

"I don't think you need to know." Kenai spoke up.

"Next thing you know, he spent a whole week smelling like a stinky skunk!" Koda soon concluded with a laugh.

"Something tells me stinky skunk was an improvement." Nita giggled from the story.

Kenai simply glared from that comment.

"I got a lot more stinky Kenai stories if you wanna hear 'em." Koda smiled at Nita and Micco.

"Oh, brother, am I right?" Kabutops asked Kenai.

"Not a word out of you." Kenai grumbled.

"Okay. Okay." Kabutops said.

They soon heard two familiar voices from two familiar animals.

"Okay, so, like, we gotta go, eh?"

"We'll see you around, eh?"

"So, we'll give you a call."

"Yeah, we'll catch you later."

"Yeah, we gotta go work out."

"Yeah. Gotta keep these muscles real buff, eh?"

"So long!"

"Hey, Rutt and Tuke." Akito smiled at the moose.

"We thought we heard you two." Estelle added.

"Hey, look, it's Big Bear and those non-hunters." Rutt realized.

"Beauty, eh?" Tuke added.

"Oh, hey, guys." Kenai said to his moose friends.

"Boy, are we glad to see you, eh?" Tuke smiled.

"Yeah, 'cuz we finally found a couple of real moosettes, eh?" Rutt added as he pointed out with his brother. "Right down there by that stream."

"They seem interesting." Vincent said.

Rutt and Tuke soon called out and waved to the female moose they had befriended.

* * *

"Those guys are weird." One female moose said to the other.

"Don't look," The other female moose replied before they continued to graze. "You'll only encourage them."

* * *

"They don't seem to be interested." Akito said.

"Oh, that's just how moosettes get, eh?" Rutt smiled. "You wouldn't understand."

Akito gave him a bit of a doubtful look.

"Well... Okay..." Rutt pouted. "They won't give us the time of day."

"We was thinking maybe you could help us with, you know, an opening line, like, 'Oh, hey, I see you like to eat twigs'." Tuke then suggested.

"Or how about a sonnet, eh?" Rutt added. "Like, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's dew'?"

Kenai and Akito rolled their eyes from that.

"Oh, jeez," Tuke scoffed at his brother. "Forget that brainy stuff, eh? They're not owls. I like, 'Hey ladies, nice dewlaps. Are those things real'?"

"Excuse me?" Nita spoke up as she, Micco, and Koda made their way back to Kenai and the others.

Rutt and Tuke looked panicked once they saw Nita and Micco.

"Uh-oh. Oh, gee."

"Hunter. Hunter!"

"We're out of here! Bye!"

"Every moose for himself."

The two moose soon dropped down to the ground and held onto each other with their antlers stuck together.

"Act like we're not here." Rutt whispered nervously.

"It's okay; these are Nita and Micco, they're here with me, Kenai, Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Felicity, Ingrid, and her baby brother, Roshan, and Kabutops." Koda told the moose brothers.

Roshan put his hands beside his head with his fingers waving to act like a moose.

"They are?" Rutt asked.

"Oh," Tuke added. "Well, pleased to meet you, eh?"

"How's it going, eh?" Rutt greeted. "I'm Rutt, and this is my brother--"

"Kenai, what's the hold-up?" Nita interrupted as she looked down at Kenai. "We have to set up camp on that far peak before sundown."

"Oh, nice to meet you by the way." Micco then added to the moose brothers.

"Scary, aren't they?" Kenai smirked to the moose brothers.

"Let's go," Nita demanded. "We're running out of daylight."

"Nita, calm down," Kenai told her. "We got plenty of time."

"A smart traveler always allows for unexpected delays." Micco advised.

"Well, this won't be a delay if you let me have a minute to give these guys a little romantic advice." Kenai smirked.

Micco laughed from that like it was a joke. Nita soon began to join in the laugh.

"Romantic advice?" Micco asked Kenai with a laugh.

"From you?" Nita added.

Koda even joined in on the laugh.

"Stop kidding," Nita then told Kenai as she went to go off ahead with Micco. "Let's go."

"Hmm... You know, boys, I think this calls for more than just a good opening line." Kenai soon said to the moose brothers with a smirk.

Akito and the others could already tell what Kenai was thinking.

"It does?" Tuke asked the bear.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course," Kenai nodded. "Acts of bravery. That's what really impresses the ladies."

"Oh, brother..." Vincent mumbled to himself.

"Gee, eh? Bravery sounds scary." Rutt remarked.

"No, you just have to pretend to be brave." Kenai advised.

"Yeah?" Tuke asked.

"I'll go out there, I'll act all ferocious, and then you guys come over the beaver dam and rescue them." Kenai advised.

"You guys wanna watch this?" Akito asked the others.

"It might be a good laugh." Felicity agreed.

The kids then ran off together to get a good seat to watch Kenai in action to help Rutt and Tuke with their situation.

"Oh, this should be good." Ingrid smiled.

"Oh. Okay. Yeah, yeah," Rutt quickly agreed with Kenai. "That's a beauty plan."

"He's smart, eh? Tuke replied. "Not like you."

"Oh, get out." Rutt rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe this..." Micco sighed as Koda came to sit with the kids and Kabutops.

"Kenai, we don't have time for this," Nita tried to tell her old friend. "Kenai!"

"It's no use," Koda shook his head. "This falls under, 'You can't tell Kenai nothing'."

"This can only end in disaster." Akito said.

"It should at least be interesting," Felicity said. "Is there someone you like, Ingrid?"

"I don't think so," Ingrid shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever feel that way about anybody."

* * *

The two female moose began to drink some water before they heard Kenai roar which made them look up. Kenai roared and growled as he tried to look like a vicious, ferocious bear.

"What's wrong with him?" The second female moose asked the first female moose.

"Maybe he got ahold of some bad salmon." The first female moose guessed.

"This is stupid." Nita sighed before she sat down with the kids.

"Let's try to be a little supportive." Micco suggested.

"This ought to impress the ladies for sure, eh?" Rutt smiled at his brother.

"Yeah." Tuke replied.

"They're not going to be impressed; they're not even scared." Akito told the others.

"We can see that." Ingrid stated.

"I'm a big hungry bear and I'm gonna rip you to shreds! Roar!" Kenai threatened the female moose.

The two female moose simply stared back, unimpressed.

"I said I'm gonna rip you to shreds!" Kenai then repeated himself like that was a cue.

Roshan even seemed to yawn from the performance.

"And the moose brothers figure out that's their cue in 3, 2, 1." Akito cued.

"Fear not, moosettes!" Tuke soon proclaimed bravely as he and Rutt appeared at the scene. "I, Tuke, and my brother, Rutt, will save you, eh?"

"Yeah!" Rutt added. "What ho, largish bear? Touch not those fair moosette ladies, eh?"

The female moose just watched in deadpan.

"You's gonna have to go through us if you want them." Tuke glared.

"Yeah," Rutt added. "You'll have to kill us, eh?"

Felicity laughed a little as that sounded funny to her.

"What? No, no, not kill us." Tuke whispered to Rutt.

"Oh, sorry," Rutt then said to Kenai. "Uh, maybe not kill us, but just, you know, push us down or something."

Kenai growled as he soon approached the two moose and let out a vicious roar in their faces. Rutt and Tuke felt really scared of that which made them scream before jumping into the water as they took this way too seriously.

"Oh, wow." Kabutops said.

"That... That was smooth, Rutt and Tuke." Ingrid muttered while Koda laughed and Nita seemed to roll her eyes.

"Jeez, that was scary, eh?" Rutt shuddered as he and Tuke floated along the water.

"Jeez. I thought I was gonna wet my hooves." Tuke added.

They then saw the two female moose watching them.

"You can go back to grazing," Rutt told the two female moose. "Nothing to see here."

"Toodle-oo!" Tuke added.

"Hey, wait!" Kenai cried out as he tried to go after them. "Guys, where are you going? Don't leave." He soon saw the two female moose looking at him with glares.

"Uh-oh..." Akito and the others muttered from that.

Kenai smiled nervously before the two female moose bucked him straight into the beaver dam before they blew raspberries at him which made Nita laugh a little.

"This used to be such a quiet river, eh?" One female moose said to the other.

"Oh, yes. Let's get out of here," The other female moose agreed as they began to walk away. "Nice rack on that little one, though."

"Are you kidding?" The first female moose replied. "All antler and no brain."

* * *

"That went well." Micco said before he and the others made their way over to where Kenai was bucked into.

"Oh, yes, it was a masterful effort." Ingrid added sarcastically.

Kenai grunted as he tried to get himself out.

"Now he looks like Winnie the Pooh stuck in the Honey Tree." Vincent remarked.

"Hey, Kenai; I thought you were supposed to be scaring moose?" Nita asked playfully.

"Do you think you can help me out here?" Kenai muffled.

"Do all his plans end with his head stuck in something?" Micco smirked at the young bear cub.

"Most of them." Koda chuckled.

"Koda?!" Kenai muffled.

"Well, they do." Koda defended.

"Calm down, Kenai," Nita assured her old friend as she took a branch out of the beaver dam and walked over to her friend as the kids walked over to see if they could help out or not. "We'll try to get you out of here," she then stared at the water below before looking a bit scared before she came to over top of Kenai. "Okay, let's see here." she then said before she stuck the branch into the dam where Kenai was.

"That might work." Felicity said.

Kenai soon yelled out in pain as the branch seemed to hurt him a bit.

"Sure would be easier if he didn't have such a fat head." Koda remarked.

Kenai groaned before Nita kept wedging the branch a bit before she soon got something free and into the water. Unfortunately, it was not Kenai, but it was Nita's bag.

"That's not good." Ingrid said.

"Hi, Kenai." Koda smiled innocently.

"Hi, Koda." Kenai replied dryly.

"Oh! Oh, no! My bag. My bag!" Nita panicked as she tried to reach for her bag. "The amulet's in my bag!"

"It's floating right in front of you," Kenai said as he could see it from where he was. "Just grab it!"

Nita tried to reach out to get her bag only for her fear to take over. "You get it. I can't. I can't," she then stammered and panicked. "It's right there! Kenai, get it." she then grabbed onto Kenai's fur a bit as she looked scared to death.

"I'm a little busy here!" Kenai grunted as he was still stuck before some water came into the beaver dam.

"Let me see if I can get it." Micco decided.

"Please, Micco." Nita begged.

Micco decided to go and get the bag while Nita looked scared. Akito noticed that Nita seemed to be afraid of the water like his father used to be and decided to talk with her about it once they would be safe and Kenai would be out of the beaver dam.

"Hey, Kito, you wanna help us get Kenai out?" Vincent asked as he grunted while pulling on Kenai with Estelle.

"Just don't go overboard." Estelle suggested.

"Sure!" Akito nodded and came to help his siblings as he tugged on Kenai as well, though he went a little too far and the water flowed and the beaver dam broke from his pull. "Whoops... I really need to work on that..." he then said bashfully.

"Ya think?" Vincent and Estelle asked.

Akito grinned bashfully at that. Micco ran after his sister's bag as he began to flow down the river while Nita stayed on dry land as she looked scared to get into the water.

"Well, at least one of us will get the bag." Estelle said.

Micco grabbed the bag before he went down with it to a waterfall. Nita began to panic even more once she saw the waterfall, especially since her brother was taken with it.

"I guess this would qualify as one of those unexpected delays." Koda remarked as they looked down into the water.

"Look down there." Akito said as he pointed to where Micco and Nita's bag ended up.

"Well, at least they are not hurt." Felicity said with relief.

"Ah, there they are." Kenai smiled calmly.

"Oh, thank goodness." Nita sighed happily.

Micco gave them a thumb's up and was about to say the words that allowed him to grow 50 feet. A raccoon soon came out of a log to check out Nita's bag.

"Oh! Hey, shoo!" Micco glared at the raccoon. "That does not belong to you."

The raccoon stuck its tongue out at him before searching the bag. "Let's see what we got here? What do we got here?" he then asked himself as he searched the bag for something good.

"Hey!" Micco glared. "Hands off!"

"Whatcha gonna do? Spear me?" The raccoon mocked before he brought out the amulet and bit into it before looked very happy as it seemed to be just what he wanted.

"You leave that alone!" Nita called out to the raccoon. "It's mine!"

"You humans make me laugh." The raccoon smirked before Micco grabbed him by his tail.

"That isn't yours." Micco glared.

"Whoopsy!" The raccoon smirked before chucking out the amulet and another raccoon soon caught it before dashing off with it.

"Hey!" Micco called out. "I never thought I'd ever hate raccoons."

"Oh, come on!" Nita complained.

"Raccoons are such tricky critters," Estelle sighed and crossed her arms. "We better go after them."

Micco growled as he began to look pretty angry before the raccoon he held onto got loose and went off after the other.

"I guess at least they left the bag." Ingrid muttered as they soon came down below beside the waterfall to get Nita's bag, but they still needed the amulet.

"We have to find those raccoons." Akito said.

"I'm sure we can catch up to them somehow." Ingrid glared as she shook her fists.

"It's gone," Nita nearly cried. "Ohh! The amulet is gone."

"That's because there ain't a better thief than the masked bandit," Koda remarked. "Once they get something in their clutches, you might as well give up all hope. Nope, that amulet's as good as gone. The Ice Age will end before you get it back." he then continued.

"Thanks a lot, Kenai!" Nita glared. "This is your fault!"

" _My_ fault?" Kenai glared back.

"If you hadn't stopped to help those moose--" Nita tried to tell him.

"Whoa, whoa! You're the one who destroyed an entire beaver dam." Kenai reminded firmly.

"I wouldn't have destroyed it if you hadn't gotten your head stuck in it." Nita defended.

"And I'm not the one who had the bag in reach and then let it float away!" Kenai retorted. "My head was stuck. What's _your_ excuse?"

"...He's got a point there." Vincent had to admit.

Nita glared back before she let out a very aggravated groan and stormed off away from Kenai and Koda.

"Let's just calm down; we'll find that raccoon and get your amulet back." Estelle told Nita.

"We have to." Nita began to cry.

Kenai and Koda shared a look with each other of concern before looking back.

"I guess that amulet means a lot to you, huh?" Felicity asked. "I mean... Even though earlier you thought it was just a silly little trinket."

"If I can't burn the amulet, I'll never be able to marry Atka." Nita said before she sat down and began to cry as she felt heartbroken.

"So that's why you and Kenai need to be together to burn it." Vincent said.

"Exactly." Nita replied sadly.

"The shaman told us." Micco nodded from that.

It was a truly sad moment for everyone as even Koda began to look sad as Kenai walked off to the corner as Nita began to cry.


	5. Chapter 5

Later on, Micco soon made a fire for the night. Everyone began to warm up before they began to feel sleepy and fell asleep. Kenai soon looked over to see Nita still on her own before he decided to get up and go over to do something to help out. Ingrid made sure that Roshan was comfortable and slept as her friends began to sleep too before an owl and a bat began to watch her from where they stood. The two of them flew down to Ingrid.

"Oh!" Ingrid gasped. "Um... Hello, there..." she then greeted the two nocturnal animals.

"Hello, there," The owl replied. "I believe you're the ones we're looking for."

"Huh?" Ingrid asked.

"Oh, yes," The bat said as he sat on the girl's shoulder. "She's the one."

"Ah, animal spirit guides, huh?" Ingrid guessed.

"Yes," The owl replied. "My name is Sonata. I represent the element of song."

"And I'm Sabath," The bat added. "I represent the element of the night, such as dreams."

"Sounds like Felicity's mother," Ingrid replied. "It's nice to meet you two, I'm--"

"We know you, you're Ingrid," Sonata told her. "We heard about you and your little brother."

"Sonata, it's not nice to interrupt someone." Sabath said.

"Well, we do know who she is." Sonata defended to the bat.

"Hmm..." Sabath rolled his eyes from that. "But yes, Ingrid, we know about you."

"Well, that feels nice," Ingrid smiled. "Especially after finding out about my new destiny with my friends visiting from the city."

"They do look interesting; especially the strong one, he seems to really take after his totem." Sonata said.

"They are good friends of mine," Ingrid nodded. "Are you here to give me your gifts?"

"Certainly," Sabath replied. "And to wish you a good night."

Ingrid smiled at the owl and bat before she was given their marks on her arms as tattoos before she glowed briefly.

"Well, have a good night's sleep." Sabath wished.

"Thank you," Ingrid said softly. "I just hope we can get Nita her amulet back."

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Sonata wished as Ingrid leaned down to go lie down. "Sweet dreams."

Ingrid soon went to sleep. It was a long night for everyone as they drifted off to sleep until the next morning would come.

* * *

The next morning came a bit early for the others as Akito woke up first and decided to do his morning jog as he usually did that after he woke up before he would get breakfast, just like back at home. And after jogging and having breakfast, he soon saw Kenai wasn't nearby. "Hmm... Where'd Kenai go?" he soon wondered to himself before he went to go looking for the older male bear.

Nita and the others were still fast asleep as Micco dreamed about becoming a great hero someday with his power, but of course, he would be in the distant future.

Eventually, Nita woke up and saw that her childhood best friend was missing. "Kenai?" she then called out as the others slowly woke up after her.

"Guys, guys, you gotta come quick! You're not gonna believe it!" Koda called out as he suddenly rushed out to see the others as they woke up. "Kenai spent the whole night untangling those tracks. And I didn't think anybody could, 'cuz they were all forks, double-backs and crisscrosses and dead ends--"

"Koda, Koda, where is Kenai?" Nita asked, trying to get him to stop rambling.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Koda replied. "He found the river bandit's hideout!"

"Show us." Estelle smiled.

"Please." The others nodded from that.

* * *

They soon followed the bear cub over to where Kenai currently was which was in front of a very tall tree.

The others were then heard coming as Kenai stared at the tree before he saw them coming, so he had them come over. "Nita, Nita, over here." he then whispered loudly.

"Well, where is it?" Nita asked as she came over with Koda and the others. "Did you get it?"

"Shh! I don't have it yet," Kenai shushed them as he began to whisper. "It's up in the tree. I'm waiting for them to fall asleep."

Nita soon made her way to the tree.

"How mischievous." A nearby coyote smirked at the sight.

Ingrid glanced over at him from that.

"Nita! Wait!" Kenai whispered loudly as he came towards the tree.

"Hey!" Koda cried out as he fell in the snow from that before going after Kenai.

Micco soon joined them as did the others.

"Nita, what are you doing?" Kenai whispered loudly at his childhood best friend.

"I'm getting my amulet back." Nita replied.

"Let me handle this." Kenai told her.

"Please let him handle this." Vincent added.

Nita decided to keep going anyway.

"No, seriously, you could fall." Kenai warned.

"Shh!" Nita shushed. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"I gotta see this." The coyote smirked as he laid down beside Kabutops who looked concerned for Ingrid.

And where Kenai was right as Nita fell, only to land on two branches. The others winced a bit as the coyote chuckled to himself.

"That's not funny." Kabutops scolded.

"It is to me." The coyote smirked.

"Hey, hey!" A raccoon complained as he soon came out, rubbing his eyes as he came out the hole in aggravation. "Can't any of you morons define the term 'nocturnal'? Anyone?"

"Sorry. Sorry," Kenai smiled nervously, trying to distract the raccoon. "It's completely my fault. Just me. Uh, listen, you've got something of ours."

The raccoon soon looked down at Kenai to hear more of what he was talking about.

"That's not Mapachin." Ingrid said to herself once she took a look at the raccoon.

"Yeah, it's round, about so big." Kenai tried to describe.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. That's for me to know and for you to find out," The raccoon smirked slyly. "Either way, it's a moot point. Finders keepers, losers weepers. It's the way of the woods."

"You didn't find it; you stole it, thief!" Micco glared at the raccoon.

"All right. You got me," The raccoon replied before a bunch of other raccoons soon came out of the tree and surrounded them by the branches and they all looked quite menacing. "That's what we do. We rob from the rich and give to the less fortunate. You know, like us!" he then grinned darkly at the ones on the ground.

"Oh, this could be bad," Akito sighed to himself. "Something tells me these guys aren't gonna be as helpful as Sly Cooper."

"You don't wanna mess Kenai or our human friends or Kabutops; they're lean, mean, raccoon butt-kicking machines." Koda told the raccoons before growling fiercely.

Kenai looked a little nervous from that. The raccoons didn't take what the bear cub said seriously and soon threw pinecones at Kenai and the human kids.

"Koda, what are you thinking?!" Vincent complained as he and the others were pelted with pinecones.

"Go ahead!" Koda continued. "Hit them with all you got! They can take it!"

"Koda, what are you doing?" Kenai glared at his little brother.

"I'm tricking them into using all their pinecones." Koda whispered.

"It's a _pine_ forest!" Ingrid told him.

"Oh... Right..." Koda realized. "This could take a while."

"Whoa, whoa, hey, hey!" Kenai yelped in pain from the pinecones. "What about a trade?"

That interested the raccoon leader. "Whoa, whoa! Hold your fire," he then told his fellow raccoons. "Hold it. Hold, hold. He wants to trade."

"Ooh, a trade..." The other raccoons smirked as they looked interested.

"Whatcha got?" The lead raccoon asked with a smirk.

"Oh! Um... Uh..." Vincent chuckled sheepishly. "How about a magical paintbrush?"

The raccoons looked deadpan from his offer as they had no use for any paintbrushes.

"Well, I tried." Vincent shrugged at himself.

"What do I got? I got lots of things," Kenai smiled nervously. "I got... Pinecones?"

This caused the others to hang their heads as that was all they had other than many other things that were on the ground.

"No." The lead raccoon scoffed.

Nita gasped as she soon found the amulet and reached out to take it quietly and carefully.

"Uh, how about this stick?" Kenai asked the raccoon.

"No."

"Rock?"

"You are insulting me."

"I can't believe it!"

* * *

Nita soon got her amulet back, only to see a baby raccoon was shown to be attached to it. "Shoo! Shoo!" she told the baby raccoon, trying to bounce it off by shaking her amulet, but the baby raccoon laughed as it felt like a fun ride so far. "Come on. Come on, let go."

Suddenly, the baby raccoon flew back into the hole and felt hurt.

Nita sighed in relief as she wore her amulet before seeing the baby raccoon who looked ready to cry. "Aww..." she said with a small smile as it looked cute.

"MAMA!" The baby raccoon then suddenly yelled out.

This, unfortunately, caught the attention of all the raccoons.

"Uh-oh." Akito and Estelle muttered together.

"This reminds me of when Jane Porter got trapped with the baboons." Vincent remarked.

"Uh... Hello." Nita soon smiled nervously as the raccoons all looked at her a bit darkly.

"Nita, I think it's time to go!" Kenai called out.

Nita soon got down from the branches that kept her up before she screamed and began to fall through the air by the branches.

"...Well, that was graceful." Vincent deadpanned.

Nita caught a loose branch and soon stood on a new branch before the raccoons began to chase her all around the treetops.

"Oh, this is rich." The coyote smirked.

Roshan cupped his mouth in worry as he sat beside the coyote. The treetop soon fell with Nita and the raccoons on it as she slid into even more raccoons on the way down. Nita soon made it onto another treetop only for more raccoons to stampede at her before she whacked some away with the branch she had found.

"This just keeps getting more entertaining." The coyote smirked.

"You are so helpful!" Ingrid glared at the coyote.

"Can't help it," The coyote smirked. "I like some good mischief every now and then."

"Hmm... You must be Kitchi." Ingrid remarked.

"At your service." Kitchi greeted.

"I shoulda guessed." Ingrid replied.

"Does he have to do with that dream you had?" Estelle asked Ingrid.

"Yes, it sure looks like it," Ingrid replied. "Even if Kitchi seems to be quite the trickster among the Spirit Animals."

"Eh, that's just how I am." Kitchi smirked.

"Should one of us help Nita?" Vincent asked.

"Maybe I ought to." Ingrid decided.

"You sure?" Akito and Estelle asked.

"Yes... I should help out..." Ingrid replied before she swung herself over and began to go to help out Nita.

"Get away from my sister!" Micco glared at the raccoons.

"No way! I'm getting back what she took from me!" The leader raccoon glared back.

"You asked for this..." Micco glared as he got himself ready.

"Nita! Behind you!" Kenai cried out.

Ingrid took out a branch of her own and soon hopped up right behind Nita to fight off the other raccoons as they kept flooding in.

"Wow," Estelle said. "Those raccoons sure don't mess around."

"They're sneaky little devils," Kitchi smirked as he showed his fangs at her. "Sometimes you gotta show 'em a little teeth and brute force."

The raccoons soon tackled Nita and Ingrid which made them fall out of the tree.

"NITA! INGRID!" The group panicked for the girls at that.

Kabutops prayed that his trainer and Nita would be alright. The two were suddenly flying through the air and landed in another tree.

"They're not bad." Koda commented as he watched that with the others.

Nita sighed as it looked like it was over, but there were still plenty of more raccoons who ran up the tree towards the girls.

"I got an idea, come on," Kenai told Koda before they ran towards the other tree. "Girls, go to the top!" he then told Ingrid and Nita.

"What?!" Ingrid and Nita asked.

"We're trying to get down!" Nita told him.

"Just listen to me!" Kenai reassured. "I know what I'm doing."

"I sure hope you do!" Ingrid replied.

"Hello!" The lead raccoon glared as he climbed towards Nita in a threatening way. "I want what you took from me."

"You mean she's taking back what _you_ stole!" Ingrid glared back as she and Nita climbed up the tree.

"Don't cross me!" The lead raccoon growled as he came closer.

"Yes, that's it!" Kenai called out to Ingrid and Nita before he climbed up another tree while Koda and the others watched. "Keep going!"

"Oh, Kenai, I hope you know what you are doing." Felicity sighed to herself.

"If he's doing what I think he's doing, the top of the tree will start bending down due to the weight of Nita and Ingrid." Akito said.

"I hope that's what he is doing then." Felicity replied.

"I'm sure it is." Akito nodded.

"Let's get 'em." The raccoon leader grinned as he and the other raccoons came closer and closer as the tree bent a bit, lowering Ingrid and Nita above a very high height.

"Kenai!" The girls cried out of fear.

"Well, well," The lead raccoon smirked. "Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide."

"Kenai better know what he's doing." Ingrid said.

Nita nodded from that as she looked scared about letting go and falling, but...

"Girls, let go!" Kenai soon called out.

"What?!" Nita yelped. "This is your plan?!"

"Just trust me!" Kenai called out.

Ingrid and Nita soon saw the raccoons getting closer to Nita.

"Don't listen to him," The lead raccoon grinned as he reached out eagerly for the amulet. "Come on, be a smart little hunter girl, huh? Hand over the trinket."

Nita looked scared of falling, but also of giving up the amulet before she gave in. "Kenai, this better work!" she then called out to her childhood best friend.

* * *

The raccoons were sent flying as the tree flung back and Nita and Ingrid were falling through the air. Kenai soon caught Nita while Micco decided to catch Ingrid before they could crash in the middle of the ground. And where they soon crashed down on the snow and where this would cause fun to happen.

"Well, at least they're having fun." Micco smirked playfully as he set Ingrid down on the ground.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ingrid replied.

Kenai and Nita slid around before they soon slid up a small hill and ended up crashing into a snow pile together like they were sledding and where in the end, the two of them were seen laughing. The rest of the group then went to go and catch up with the two. Kabutops and Roshan ran up to Ingrid and hugged her once she was back on the ground as she hugged them back.

"That was a lot of raccoons." Kenai remarked as he came out of the snow with Nita.

"I can't believe I outran all of them." Nita replied.

"When you jumped out of that tree..."

"Oh, oh! And the way you caught me!"

"And then when we fell..."

"You were amazing!" They then said together with a laugh.

"It's great to have the old Nita back." Kenai smiled.

"What do you mean 'The Old Nita'?" Nita soon asked as she put her amulet away.

"The Fun Nita," Kenai explained. "Come on, you know you've been kind of a stick in the mud this entire trip."

Micco snorted a bit from that.

"I don't think she has noticed." Vincent said.

The others soon came to catch up as Micco then got quiet as his sister flashed him a look.

"Okay, maybe you don't know," Kenai nervously said to Nita. "It's just good to see you loosen up a bit, you know?"

"Now hold on..." Nita glared slightly.

"Ew!" Koda called out as he soon slid down beside the two and came to sniff his big brother. "What stinks?"

"It's not me." Kenai told his little brother.

"Ugh! That's the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled," Koda complained as he plugged his nose before looking excited. "Let's go check it out."

Kenai then laughed and went to walk off with Koda.

"I guess that's just how little brothers are." Estelle rolled her eyes.

"Don't get any ideas." Ingrid told Roshan.

Roshan just let out an innocent coo from that.

"Uh-huh." Ingrid smirked playfully at her little brother.

"Hey! Wait a minute! I'm not finished!" Nita called out to the two bears. "...Ugh." she then groaned as they refused to stop.

Everyone else soon got ready to go until Kitchi stopped Ingrid and she earned his element next as she was close to finishing up her side quest in the adventure as she smiled, feeling very proud of herself.

"Where is that smell coming from?" Vincent asked.

"This way." Koda replied as he led the way.

"Lead on, Koda," Akito remarked. "Like from the Salmon Run."

"It was so cool that you guys got to go too." Koda chuckled.

"Sure was." Vincent said.

"So where are your Pokemon?" Kenai asked them.

"In our bags," Estelle replied. "We didn't want them to get into too much trouble, so we kept them packed away for just in case."

"Cool." Koda smiled.

"I feel like I've never seen Pokemon up until I met you guys." Kenai said.

"I'm sure there's a reason for that." Akito said to himself, mysteriously.

* * *

"Oh, brother, I have never known a moose to take this long, eh?" Tuke's voice complained.

"Don't rush me," Rutt told his brother. "I can't do it while you're watching."

"Jeez. You're getting it on my leg." Tuke replied.

"Sorry." Rutt apologized.

"Oh... I think I found what Koda was smelling before." Felicity pointed out to the others.

"And I think I know what one of them is covering himself in." Estelle said as she covered her nose.

The others groaned in disgust from that.

"Oh, hey, Largish Bear." Tuke smiled.

"How's it going, eh?" Rutt added. "Are we glad to see you. Yeah, beauty."

"What are you guys doing...?" Felicity asked, though she felt she would regret that question as soon as she asked it.

"We're still getting the brush-off from those moosettes." Tuke explained.

"Yeah, they seem immune to our rugged good looks, eh?" Rutt added. "So we thought we'd appeal to their olfactory senses."

"Ooh..." Estelle said.

"That's... Great..." Felicity said, uncomfortably.

"Ew!" Kenai and Koda grimaced in disgust.

"Yes, for example, I'm wearing essence of wet leaf compost with just a hint of sandalwood." Tuke said as he buried his face and antlers in a pile of muddy leaves which made him smell even worse.

"And I'm augmenting my natural moosely musk with a blend of pine needles and river mud." Rutt added as he skidded himself across the mud.

"That isn't mud." Kabutops told Rutt.

The kids looked even more sick from that.

"Kind of overpowering?" Rutt asked bashfully.

"That's no good." Tuke replied.

"Guys, don't sweat it," Kenai told the two moose. "I got another plan."

"Oh, yeah, I think we've already seen your expertise in romance." Nita smirked at Kenai.

"She does have a point." Micco added.

Koda and the other kids laughed a bit from that.

"Yeah, very funny," Kenai rolled his eyes. "Don't we have an amulet to burn?"

"Oh, we can spare a moment." Micco smirked as he walked over by Nita's side.

"Micco's right." Nita added, also smirking.

"Beauty, eh?" Tuke smiled as he stood with Rutt.

"What you need here... Excuse me. Is a woman's point-of-view." Nita said as she took a muddy leaf off of Tuke and tossed it over her shoulder which then landed on Kenai's snout, much to his aggravation.

"Yeah?" Rutt and Tuke asked.

"And a plan that actually works." Nita nodded.

"This is going to work out great." Akito said.

"Hopefully anyway." Estelle replied.

"I'm sure if I can get Emi Ketchum and Vincent can get Jenny Foxworth." Akito smirked.

"All right, let's look for those, uh, moosettes." Ingrid suggested as she carried Roshan in her arms.

Nita soon explained her plan. Everyone listened closely as it seemed to be a good plan so far.

"Oh, yeah," Micco smirked. "That should work out just fine."

"I knew you would approve of it." Nita giggled at her brother.

Roshan reached out as Koda was about to go to the two female moose as he wanted to play too.'

"Oh, you wanna play too?" Ingrid cooed. "Well, I guess that would be alright." she then set her baby brother down on the ground and let him go crawl out and go after Koda as it seemed to be a great help to make the plan work even more.

* * *

"Hi! We're playing with my two best friends and we need a place to hide." Koda smiled as he rushed over to the two female moose as Roshan joined him as he hugged one of their legs.

"Aw! Look at the sweet little things~" One of the female moose cooed.

"Jeez, I could just eat them up~" The other female moose added.

Roshan giggled as he waved at the female moose.

"Alright, that's your cue." Estelle whispered to the moose brothers.

"Beauty, eh?" Tuke smiled as he came toward the female moose.

"Good luck, eh?" Rutt told his brother.

"Rutt, would you get going?" Nita groaned before she moved him to go after his brother.

"Oh! Okay." Rutt replied as he walked after Tuke.

"Now to watch the rest of the plan to unfold." Vincent whispered.

The others got closer to take a look, especially Nita and Micco.

"Oh, uh, excuse us, ladies." Tuke smiled bashfully.

The two female moose glanced at them, already unimpressed.

"We're looking for our pal." Rutt said to them.

"Brownish?" One of the female moose asked.

"Yes." Rutt replied.

"Furry?" The second female moose asked.

"Yes again." Rutt replied.

"About yay big with a baby human?" The second female moose asked while guessing Koda's size.

"That's them!" Tuke beamed.

"Haven't seen 'em." The second female moose replied.

"Hm..." Tuke pouted from that.

The two female moose giggled from that.

"Here we are!" Koda laughed as he soon came out of hiding with Roshan.

Roshan giggled as he crawled next to Koda.

"There's no beating you, little buddies," Tuke smiled as he tickled Koda and Roshan with his antlers which made them laugh together. "Look at that."

"You're so good with them." The second female moose smiled at the sight.

"Oh, yeah, eh? We have lots of little kid animal friends," Tuke smiled back. "We know a little weasel and a little badger. And we've even got some little baby bunny friends."

 _'It's working perfectly and nothing is going wrong.'_ Felicity thought to herself.

"Whoa. Smallish Bear and Pinky are like babe magnets, eh?" Tuke remarked before nudging Rutt to make him talk as he looked too nervous to talk with the female moose. "Socialize. So, would you ladies be interested in grazing on some twigs?" he then asked the two female moose.

"Oh, no, thanks, we just ate," The first female moose replied only to get nudged by her sister. "Ow!"

"We love twigs." The second female moose soon said.

Rutt began to look like he was about to blurt out something out of fear.

"Really? Well, so do we," Tuke smiled at the two female moose. "Right, little brother?"

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's dew?!" Rutt suddenly blurted out which made the others nervous, especially Tuke. "Though it art more lovely and more dewy than you."

"Oh, nice move, eh?" Tuke scoffed.

"What's wrong with him?" The first female moose asked Tuke.

"Don't mind my little brother," Tuke replied as he soon walked off with the two female moose. "He was trampled by an elk herd when he was a calf."

"Oh, jeez, that's awful." The first female moose frowned.

"That's not true," Rutt huffed as he began to catch up with them. "It was only half a herd."

The second female moose laughed at that.

"Oh, good," Felicity looked relieved. "They're still going together."

Roshan and Koda seemed to share a high-five with each other.

"Remind us again who's the better moose matchmaker?" Nita smirked at Kenai.

"Beginner's luck." Kenai smirked back.

"Jealous?" Nita teased.

"All right, that was a really nice thing." Kenai admitted before they walked off together.

Roshan soon crawled back over to Ingrid before she picked up and hugged her baby brother.

"Great job." Ingrid smiled at her baby brother.

Roshan giggled and cooed at her.

"Did you see me?" Koda smiled at Kenai and Nita. "I did it."

"You can do pretty amazing things with moose," Kenai smiled at Nita as they walked off together, seeming to forget about Koda. "That's great."

* * *

Teddy soon seemed to come out on his own from his PokeBall and appeared, sensing as though Koda was being forgotten.

"Teddy!" Estelle called.

Teddy soon came out to see Koda as he felt something was wrong.

"Huh?" Koda pouted at Kenai and Nita. "Hey, wait for me!"

"Is something wrong?" Teddy asked Koda.

"Kenai forgot about me." Koda firmly pouted.

Teddy soon gave him a lift so they could catch up with the others.

"Thanks, Teddy." Koda said.

"No problem." Teddy smiled back before he ran to catch up with the others.


	6. Chapter 6

The group soon walked off together as Akito continued to examine Micco as he had a lot on his mind about the Native American man.

"Yes...?" Micco asked as he noticed Akito examining him.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Akito said.

"Hey, is this about growing into large size?" Micco asked. "I have a reason for that."

"Uh, I sorta know," Akito looked bashful as he had some trading cards with him. "Especially in the future."

Koda and Teddy were seen running on ahead.

"Let's just say, you'll get to become a great hero someday," Akito said as he looked at his Super Friends trading cards which, of course, included Apache Chief. "I know you will, Micco."

"Well, thank you," Micco said to him. "Let's go catch up or we'll get left behind."

"Not that speed is a problem for me." Akito then smirked.

"Koda, you two be careful." Nita told the bear cub and Ursaring.

"Good to see Teddy having fun," Akito smiled as he took out his PokeBall. "I bet you wanna play too, so come on out!"

The PokeBall was soon tossed and out came Tyraniter.

Vincent and Felicity shared the same look as they also brought out Ninetails and Mismagius.

"Relax, they're fine," Kenai told Nita. "They're just looking for lunch."

"Yeah." Teddy smiled.

"Besides, I'm _always_ careful." Koda said before he slipped on a rock and fell in the water.

"Look, see, we just go down this trail until we hit the river." Kenai soon said once he looked up ahead of the path.

"Oh, that sounds perfect." Felicity smiled.

"River?" Nita asked, looking scared.

"Uh-oh." Micco whispered to himself.

"Yeah," Kenai nodded at Nita. "And then we swim across."

"Swim?" Micco soon asked as he felt Nita's fear.

"Then it's just a little way's to Hokani Falls," Kenai then concluded as Koda came out of the water and shook himself dry. "We'll be there by lunchtime tomorrow."

"That's a good idea." Akito nodded.

"I love the part where we swim." Estelle beamed.

"Of course you do." Vincent smirked playfully.

"Well, that's a good plan, but what about this?" Nita spoke up nervously. "We go up this ridge to that mountain, climb up those cliffs, walk across that snow bridge and avoid the river altogether." she then suggested.

Akito and the others soon looked confused as that made no sense.

"That makes more sense to me." Nita smirked to herself.

Micco nodded for the sake of making his sister feel better.

"That doesn't make any sense," Koda replied. "That's way out of the way, and there's too much up and not enough down. I vote for the river." he then added.

"Me too." Kenai replied.

"Same here," Felicity agreed. "I'm sure my cousins agree too."

"But if you have a problem with the water, Nita; Micco could always help you go over the river." Akito said.

"Huh? Who says I have a problem with the water?" Nita asked nervously.

Akito gave her a bit of a look for that.

"I say we eat right now." Koda suggested.

"I'll help get a fish." Teddy smiled.

"Sounds great, Teddy!" Koda smiled back.

"Why do you wanna go the way _you_ wanna go, Nita?" Akito asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's my amulet." Nita replied.

"So?" Kenai then asked.

"And my wedding." Nita then told him.

"Then you can have your honeymoon up there." Vincent said.

"Yeah, if we all went up that way, it would take all night!" Akito added. "I mean, it could take me at least three seconds, but still!"

"Fine," Nita huffed. "Then I'll meet you all there."

"Nita, what's wrong with you?" Kenai asked.

"Trust me," Nita reassured. "My way will get us there before--"

Teddy soon tossed out a fish out of the water which made Nita scream and fall into the water before she screamed even more and she came out, splashing and soon made it back on dry land as she panted heavily and her heart raced as she looked scared to death.

"Well, that just happened." Vincent said.

"She's not afraid of fish, is she?" Estelle asked.

"...I don't think it's the fish she's scared of." Akito replied.

"What's the matter with you?" Koda asked Nita. "You act like you're afraid of fish."

Nita looked over and bowed her head sadly.

"My gosh, guys, I can't believe it!" Koda then laughed before he soon grabbed the fish and used it to mess with Nita as he laughed at that. "Hey, guys, watch this. Where's the girl who's afraid of fish? 'Hi, my name is Nita, and I'm afraid of fish'. I have a fish. The fish is so scary! 'Oh, no, he's gonna eat me'!"

Kenai laughed for a while until he saw that Nita was still looking scared.

Micco soon sat down to help soothe Nita. "You should tell them." he whispered to her.

"I-I'm not sure if I should," Nita whispered back. "It might be a bit difficult."

"Uh... Koda, come on," Kenai soon told his little brother. "Koda, stop."

"No, he almost got me." Koda continued while Teddy began to look uncomfortable from the bear cub's playing around as Nita looked deeply upset.

"Koda, _stop_!" Kenai then called firmly.

Koda soon stopped messing with Nita as he dropped the fish. Teddy whacked the back of Koda's head.

"Hey!" Koda glared from that.

"We were just kidding around about the fish." Kenai frowned softly as he came to sit next to his childhood best friend.

Nita sighed as she knew that it was time to confess.

"Go on," Micco smiled at his sister. "I'm sure they'll understand."

Nita looked at her brother before looking back at her childhood friend as she came clean. "No, it's not the fish. It's the water. Ever since that day I fell through the ice when we were kids." she then explained to Kenai about why she felt so scared.

"Oh... I didn't realize." Kenai said softly.

"That's why I didn't grab the bag in the river," Nita continued sadly. "It wasn't your fault we lost the amulet. It was mine."

"Hey, we got it back together," Kenai then said with a small smile to help cheer her up. "That's all that matters, right?"

The two then began to smile at each other.

 _'They're starting to fall in love.'_ Micco thought to himself.

Koda looked at Kenai and Nita before glaring at the fish as he was left out. "What are you looking at?" he then huffed before swatting the fish back into the water.

"So much for lunch." Teddy shrugged at himself.

"You ready to keep going?" Kenai soon asked Nita.

"But I'll never be able to cross that river." Nita replied.

"We can do that together too." Kenai told Nita.

Nita smiled fondly from that as they soon walked off together to get on with the trail.

* * *

And so, they walked along to go do what they had to do so that Nita could get married to Atka.

"I can't believe we met Apache Chief from the Super Friends," Akito said to Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity as he looked through his trading cards of other superheroes than in the Justice League, such as Apache Chief, El Dorado, and Samurai. "Though I wonder how he's alive in the future like that when he's an adult here?"

"Maybe when he became a superhero, they gave him some sort of immortality?" Estelle guessed.

"That must be it." Vincent nodded.

"Still, it's pretty cool," Akito replied. "This is like a watered-down version of the Justice League."

"I guess that's how the Super Friends work," Estelle smiled. "I like to see you excited though, Akito. I don't think I've seen you this excited since we've became honorary Loonatics."

"That was a really good time." Felicity beamed.

"Yes, it was." Vincent nodded.

* * *

They passed by blades of grass before they soon ended up stumbling into some geese who then suddenly flew away. It was a bit startling, but Nita laughed it off before Kenai laughed along with her. Koda began to glare as Nita was getting more attention from Kenai than he was. They soon came to a log bridge but just as Koda was about to cross it Kenai stopped him so Nita could go first.

"I guess that's an act of ladies first." Micco remarked to himself.

"Could be true." Vincent replied as he would do the same for Jenny.

Koda looked grumpy as Nita walked across the log first since Kenai allowed her to do so.

"I don't think Koda's liking the attention Kenai's giving Nita." Teddy whispered to Estelle.

"I can see that." Estelle replied as they soon crossed the log next.

"Careful now, Tyraniter." Akito told his Pokemon who was quite large for his size.

Tyraniter nodded as he began to cross with Ninetails and Teddy while Mismagius simply floated. Koda soon ran right past Nita which nearly knocked her off of the log, but luckily she didn't fall off. Kenai and the others soon caught up with Koda and the Pokemon. Koda still looked grumpy around Nita, especially since he couldn't knock her off of the log.

* * *

They soon rode on some woolly mammoths and rode through the hot springs. Manny and Ellie smiled once they saw Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent again, even Ellie's brothers: Crash and Eddie. The ride through the hot springs was fun for them. Koda then smirked as he got a mammoth to step over a hot spring. This made the mammoth yelped and trumpet from that before going a bit faster. Nita and Kenai laughed from that, though Koda grabbed onto the mammoth's tail as he nearly fell off of the mammoth's back.

"Are you guys gonna have a baby?" Estelle asked Manny and Ellie who looked bashful from that question.

"Uh... Well... If we do, don't tell Sid." Manny said nervously.

"We promise." The fudo siblings smiled.

Manny and Ellie smiled back from that.

"Boy or a girl?" Ingrid asked as she carried Roshan.

"We would love a daughter." Ellie said hopefully.

"Aw!" Estelle, Felicity, and Ingrid smiled.

Manny and Ellie smiled back before dropping them off so that they could continue their journey.

"We have to go now," Felicity said. "Maybe we could meet your baby someday."

"That would be nice," Ellie said as she and Manny left with the other mammoths. "Good luck on your adventure."

* * *

They now began to climb up the ridge together, very carefully. As they climbed up, Kenai and Nita got a chance to get a look at an eagle family.

"Part of me wonders if that's Sitka." Akito smiled softly.

"Yeah." The others added as they remembered what happened to Sitka.

"How very brave." A nearby hawk smiled at Ingrid as she managed to help her baby brother in, coming up with them.

"Thank you. You must be Chatan." Ingrid smiled back.

"You are smart too," The hawk replied. "It's good to meet you."

"Good to meet you too," Ingrid beamed at the hawk. "What's your element?"

"Courage and bravery and I can tell you have a lot of it." Chatan replied.

"That I do." Ingrid nodded.

"Congratulations." Chatan told Ingrid as he soon gave Ingrid her next tattoo/marking.

Ingrid beamed. "Just two more." she then said to herself.

Roshan smiled in excitement for his big sister. The mother eagle soon began to feed her babies as Kenai and Nita watched from afar. Unfortunately, Koda couldn't see a thing.

* * *

The group soon walked along the snowy forest together.

"What are those words you say before you grow big?" Akito asked Micco.

" _'Ineck chock_ '." Micco replied as he soon grew up to 50 feet tall after saying those two words. 

Akito looked up from that.

"See?" Micco asked Akito.

"Very interesting," Akito replied. "Maybe you could teach me that so I can buy a car."

Micco looked slightly confused by what a car was as he shrank back down to human size.

"Uh... Well... Oh, never mind..." Akito said bashfully. "That's still pretty cool though."

"Well, thank you." Micco then said.

"And maybe he'll give you a rematch in the future." Vincent smirked playfully to his little brother.

"Hm, maybe so," Akito smirked back. "You guys wanna watch?"

"Might as well," Estelle shrugged. "You're overdue for a little match at some point."

"Yeah, I guess I miss training/wrestling practice with Slam back in Acmetropolis," Akito replied. "We should probably invite the Loonatics over sometime... See how they like the 21st century where their ancestors were popular."

"Yeah." Vincent nodded.

"That'll be a good time," Felicity smiled. "Having the Loonatics in our time since we were in their time."

Kenai soon smirked as he playfully hit a tree beside him which made some snow in the tree tumble over and fall right on top of Nita. Nita soon smirked back before playfully hit a tree so some snow would tumble over and fall on top of Kenai but fell on her instead. The others gasped from that, but chuckled a bit as it looked pretty funny to them. Kenai looked over and he soon laughed from that himself. Koda rolled his eyes grumpily as he continued to follow after them.

* * *

The next thing that happened during their journey was that Nita and Micco were pole-vaulting. Kenai laughed as he ran off after them as it reminded him of the good old days with Nita. They soon came over to the edge of a hill.

"Looks like it's time to go sledding." Felicity grinned as she brought out a random snow sled to sled down with her cousins.

Once they were on the sled, the Fudo cousins soon went snow sledding. They laughed quite happily in their little activity. Kenai and Nita also decided to sled their own special way down as they laughed together like when they were kids. Koda looked out to see the others, only for him to slide down the hill as well. After sledding for a while, they soon reached the bottom. The Fudo cousins laughed as they ended up in the snow together with Kenai, Nita, and Micco.

* * *

The childhood best friends then ran off together, just as Koda made it to the bottom himself. They soon had a little snowball fight as they made their way to the river. Nita laughed before she looked out into the water and suddenly felt discouraged because of her fear.

"Oh, Nita..." Micco said softly to his sister.

"It's the only way," Kenai said to his childhood best friend. "Let me help you."

Nita smiled to her childhood best friend as that would help. And so, Nita was on Kenai's back as he was about to cross the water like a Lapras.

"I changed my mind." Nita said nervously.

"Nope, it's too late for that," Kenai smiled. "We're going across. Whatever happens, don't let go."

Nita was still hesitant, but she soon gave in. "...Okay." she then said to her childhood best friend.

They began to make their way into the river.

"Kenai has evolved into Lapras." Akito chuckled.

"Very funny." Felicity rolled her eyes playfully as Akito and Estelle both laughed at that.

Kenai soon decided to go under the water which prompted Nita into holding her breath as they began to go under the water. And when she opened her eyes while still holding her breath, Nita was amazed by what she saw. The Fudo cousins soon swam after Nita and Kenai as they returned their Pokemon briefly as they crossed the river. Ingrid rode a boat over while making sure Roshan was safe and secure inside as they looked all around. Estelle beamed as they passed some turtles and she pet some of them. Akito and Vincent smiled as swimming underwater was always great. Soon, they made it back out over the water as Nita seemed to get over her fear.

"I did it! I did it!" Nita beamed happily for herself before smiling especially to her childhood best friend for helping make it possible. "Thank you, Kenai."

Kenai smiled as he was happy to have helped Nita. Nita then suddenly hugged Kenai thankfully as he beamed from the hug. Koda stared out to the distance as he began to feel like Kenai had forgotten all about him.

"We're finally on the other side." Estelle said before seeing Teddy coming out of his PokeBall.

"Yeah, we made it." Akito smiled.

"But we're missing someone." Teddy told them.

Estelle began to count everyone before realizing Teddy was right. "Where's Koda?" she then asked.

The others looked all around before looking back across the river.

Akito paused thoughtfully before he used telescopic vision to take a closer look as he saw someone there, but then recognized who it was once he got a closer look. "Oh!" he then said. "I found Koda."

"Didn't Kenai remember to go back for Koda?" Felicity asked.

"I think Kenai's too busy right now." Vincent said as he gestured at the adult bear who rode away with Nita, both laughing happily.

Koda sniffled as he sat by himself.

"Could I go see him?" Teddy asked Estelle. "I feel like Koda and I are best friends."

"That's so thoughtful of you, Teddy." Estelle smiled at her Pokemon.

"So...?" Teddy smiled back.

"Okay." Estelle smiled back.

"Do you think you can swim yourself over?" Akito asked.

"Well, I guess I could try, Uncle Akito, I do have some experience myself, even if I'm not like a Horsea or a Water Pokemon like that." Teddy replied.

"Okay, you go to Koda," Estelle smiled at her Pokemon before kissing his forehead as he tilted his head at her. "We'll wait for you."

Teddy soon dove in the water before swimming to Koda.

"You raised him so well." Vincent smiled.

"Oh, thanks, Vince." Estelle beamed from that.

* * *

Koda sniffled as he sat all by himself before he saw Teddy coming.

"Hi, Koda." Teddy smiled softly at the bear cub.

"Teddy." Koda said softly.

"Want some company?" Teddy asked.

"...Well, it would be nice to have some sort of attention." Koda sighed softly.

Teddy soon sat next to Koda. Koda sighed, but they wouldn't be just the two of them for longer.

"Hey, Smallish Bear and... Pocket Bear..." Rutt greeted softly as he joined them. "So, where's Big Bear?"

"With Nita," Koda firmly pouted. "He never has time for me anymore. He's too busy helping her."

Teddy could tell his uncle had heard what Koda said even from across the river.

"Koda..." Akito frowned softly as he did, in fact, hear that.

"Shee! Boy, do I know how you feel," Rutt said to Koda. "My own brother gave me the heave-ho, eh, all for a babe. Actually, two really, really hot babes. Better watch your brother doesn't walk out on you, eh?" he then advised to the young bear cub.

"Kenai would never do that to, Koda." Teddy said.

Koda shook his head firmly as he agreed with Teddy.

"I said the same thing, eh? But get a load of Moose-anova over there." Rutt continued to sulk.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's dew?" Tuke smiled as he walked off with the two female moose.

"Did you just make that up?" The lighter female moose smiled back dreamily.

"Beauty, eh?" Tuke smirked coolly.

"He's such a poet." The darker female moose chuckled.

"He's kidding, right?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you around, Little Bear." Rutt sulked as he decided to walk away.

Koda soon pouted as he felt worried about Kenai forgetting about him like Tuke forgot about Rutt.

"I'm still with you though," Teddy told Koda. "And I promise that I won't forget about you."

Teddy soon helped Koda across the river.

"Thanks, Teddy." Koda sighed.

"Of course, Koda." Teddy reassured.

Kabutops took a look out before looking back. "Teddy and Koda are coming back." he then told the others.

"Thanks, Kabutops." Ingrid nodded at that information.

Teddy and Koda soon made it to the other side of the river as it was getting dark. Koda pouted as he slopped a bit in the mud as they made it to the other side. Roshan beamed once he saw that Koda and Teddy were back.

"Aw! Good to see you too, buddy." Teddy smiled at the boy.

"Let's get to the campfire." Akito said.

"This way." Ingrid pointed out.

* * *

They soon went to go to the campfire as Kenai and Nita were talking and sharing stories with each other.

"You had a whole clumpful." Kenai smirked.

"Oh, you're making that up." Nita replied.

"All I know is I had all my fur when we went into the river, and two handfuls were missing when we came out." Kenai then told her.

"Well, maybe you're just going bald." Nita then said.

Micco smiled, happy to see Kenai and Nita getting along.

"What?" Kenai soon asked Nita.

"You know, it does look really thin right through here." Nita replied as she pulled on his fur on his head jokingly.

"Yeah, very funny." Kenai playfully rolled his eyes from that.

Koda rolled his eyes at that.

"Should we let them know where we were?" Felicity whispered to the others.

"I don't think they'll listen." Koda huffed.

"Oh, Koda, don't be like that." Estelle frowned.

"Well, it's true," Koda rolled his eyes. "Ever since that girl came around, it's like I'm invisible to Kenai."

"It's true that Kenai has been a little forgetful." Teddy said.

"This is the most fun I've had since we were kids." Kenai smiled at Nita.

"Fun but cold." Nita replied as she briefly shivered.

"On a night like this, it's good to be a bear." Kenai then said.

Nita giggled from that. "I bet."

"How about some honey buns?" Estelle smiled at Koda. "I make those for Teddy sometimes."

"They are delicious." Teddy smiled down at Koda.

"Hmm... Well, okay," Koda said. "I guess I could try some."

"Good," Estelle smiled. "This oughta turn that frown upside down."

"Yeah." Teddy smiled back.

"Could you help me get food for Mismagius too?" Felicity asked Akito.

"Sure, Flick, I'll help you there." Akito smiled as he decided to bring out the food for his Tyraniter as Ingrid had some food for Kabutops and Vincent began to feed Ninetails.

"Those are some pets you kids have." Micco said as he sat by the fire.

"They're not pets," Akito said. "They're Pokemon."

"I think I've heard of those, but I'm not sure," Micco replied. "They are friendly though, right?"

"Of course they are, for the most part," Akito smiled. "Ours are anyway."

"But just like people, there are good and bad Pokemon." Estelle said.

"I might take that as some advice if I should run into any Pokemon of my own." Micco replied.

"I'm sure you will, sir," Akito nodded from that. "Animals seem to like you enough."

Micco smiled a bit from that. "You know, young man, you remind me of myself when I was your age," he then said. "You seem like the kind of kid who would always be there for your friends and family when they need you and they rely on your special talents to help get you through any kind of trouble you might face."

"Yep, that's Akito for ya." Vincent smiled.

"So I see," Micco replied. "Well, keep up whatever you're doing, Akito, it seems to be working."

"Thanks, Micco," Akito smiled. "That means a lot coming from you."

"Akito's always been like a hero," Estelle said. "And a leader."

Akito smiled bashfully from that.

"Yes, my father wants me to become a leader someday," Micco nodded at that. "To become a new chief for our village. Hopefully, even meet the future mother of my children."

 _'I have a feeling he will meet that special lady of his in the future.'_ Estelle thought to herself.

"So, Hokani Falls," Nita sighed at her childhood best friend. "I guess we'll make it there in time, huh?"

"I guess." Kenai said softly.

"A lot sure has changed since the last time we were there." Nita then said.

"No kidding." Kenai slowly nodded.

 _'Sounds like they don't want to go to Hokani Falls, even though it's the only for Nita to get married.'_ Felicity thought to herself.

Estelle soon brought out honey buns for both Teddy and Koda. Koda looked unsure about eating the honey buns at first.

"Look, Koda, see? Good!" Teddy smiled as he began to eat his honey buns with glee.

Koda looked at him, then began to eat some himself before he got into it and ate more as he loved the taste. Estelle smiled, happy to see Koda enjoying it.

"Do you ever miss being human?" Nita soon asked Kenai. "I mean, have you ever thought about changing back?"

Kenai paused with a lot on his mind before he answered her, "Yeah, I've... I've thought about it."

"Seriously?" Teddy asked.

"I knew it." Koda pouted.

"Koda..." Kenai called softly to his little brother.

"You're going back with her!" Koda cried before he soon began to run away.

"Koda, wait!" Akito called out.

"Oh, no." Ingrid frowned at that.

Koda just kept on running which made Kenai run after him in concern. The others soon joined him.


	7. Chapter 7

Koda kept on running, not sure where he was going to go, but he didn't want to be with Kenai anymore.

"KODA!" Kenai cried out, but the bear cub kept on running.

"Luckily my races with Rev Runner will get to pay off!" Akito told himself as he sped after the bear cub.

"We better find him before he gets lost." Estelle said.

"Ingrid, could you help us out?" Vincent asked.

"Of course I will," Ingrid replied. "Just know that it might not be easy."

"Okay." Felicity nodded.

"Stay close, Roshan." Ingrid told her brother.

Roshan nodded as he listened to his older sister.

"Koda!" Kenai cried out. "Answer me!"

"Kenai, do you know when someone's mind goes astray when they are in love?" Teddy asked while they searched for Koda.

"Uh... I think so..." Kenai replied.

"I think it's some advice you should live by." Estelle suggested.

"Especially with of how you kinda forgot to go back to pick up Koda and carrying him across the river." Akito said.

Kenai soon face-palmed as he realized that.

"You sorta just went away without even being concerned about Koda." Tyraniter added.

"Ugh," Kenai groaned. "You guys are right! I was too busy with Nita to even remember that Koda needed my help!"

"Not cool." Ninetails rolled his eyes.

"Let's keep looking." Akito said.

They soon saw the glaciers and the ice wall.

"He must've gone through there." Ninetails remarked.

"This looks familiar..." Mismagius commented. "I also feel like that a storm's coming."

"We should go inside and see if he's there." Tyranitar said.

"It looks so cold," Vincent said. "Let's hope we can keep warm."

"I'm cold-blooded, so it doesn't matter to me." Felicity sighed.

* * *

They soon marched on, but that just made the snow get heavier and blow harder as they all tried to stay strong.

"This... Almost reminds me... Of the time... We met Balto." Akito shivered as he kept on going.

They kept on looking around for Koda.

"Koda! Please come back!" Teddy called out.

"Let us talk with ya!" Mismagius added.

"Please!" Tyraniter and Ninetails pouted.

Nita soon saw pawprints going into the icy cavern and decided to go check them out. And where she wasn't the only one that saw the paw-prints, Ingrid saw them too.

"Estelle." Ingrid soon called.

Estelle turned her head.

"I'm trusting you to keep an eye on Roshan for me." Ingrid stated.

"Um, okay, where are you going?" Estelle asked.

"I'm going with Nita to find Koda." Ingrid decided maturely.

"I'll keep Roshan safe." Estelle said.

"I appreciate it," Ingrid replied. "This shouldn't take too long though."

Estelle smiled as she decided to watch Roshan for Ingrid. "Hey, there~..." she then cooed.

Roshan smiled back at her as Ingrid went inside with Nita as Koda got further and further away.

* * *

As Nita and Ingrid went inside, they soon saw that the inside was big. It was also very cold, so they both shivered a bit.

"Hello?" Nita soon called out. "Koda? Are you in here?"

"He has to be in here somewhere." Ingrid said as she went inside with Nita.

"Yeah, but where?" Nita asked.

"Come on, we have to keep looking just in case." Ingrid suggested.

Nita followed after Ingrid who was very mature and wise for her age. "Where are you?" she pouted before calling out as she went further inside the cavern with Ingrid. "Koda? Koda?"

"Go away." A familiar voice sniffled.

"He's close." Ingrid whispered.

The two soon looked around until they found Koda where he was hiding as he looked miserable.

"Koda, Kenai's worried sick about you," Nita called to the bear cub as she held out her arms for him. "Come on, I'll take you to him."

"No! I said go away!" Koda cried as he turned away and put his paws to his face in sadness. His cry caused the cave to shake.

"Koda, please, keep your voice down." Ingrid whispered to Koda.

"It's not safe." Nita added softly.

"I don't care!" Koda cried. "Just leave me alone."

The cave shook a bit more which wasn't a good sign.

"Koda, we have to go now." Ingrid told the bear cub.

There were cracks all around and it looked like they could be crushed at any time.

"Girls!" Koda cried out before he soon jumped out towards Nita and Ingrid which made them fall on the ground.

"We're gonna be all right, but we've got to go," Nita told Koda. "Now!"

"Hurry!" Ingrid called out as they soon ran out before they would be trapped inside and where they soon rushed outside.

Estelle smiled at Roshan before looking over as Nita, Ingrid, and Koda rushed out as quickly as possible.

" **NITA!** " Koda yelped as he got stuck.

"Oh, no!" Ingrid yelped. "Koda's still stuck!"

"Take my hand!" Nita called out to Koda.

Koda reached his paw out before he soon grabbed her hand, pulling him out, though the two tumbled down the hill and nearly fell right off of the cliff.

"Are you both alright?" Ingrid asked Nita and Koda.

"I... I think I'm okay..." Nita replied.

"I feel scared!" Koda gulped.

"We better find Kenai and the others before things get worse." Ingrid said.

Nita brought Koda off of the cliff. They all then looked up as a rumbling of snow was coming right down after them like an avalanche.

"Aw, man!" Ingrid gasped from that.

* * *

"KODA!" Kenai cried out of fear as he sat with Akito, Estelle, Felicity, Vincent, and Roshan as they saw the snow fall.

"I should've gone with them," Kabutops groaned to himself. "I'm a terrible Pokemon!"

"I'm sure they'll have a soft landing." Tyranitar said.

"But still, that's a very dangerous avalanche!" Akito warned.

"GUYS!" Nita and Ingrid cried out as they fell through the air as they held onto Koda.

Micco soon thought fast, so he called out. "Ineck Chock!" He soon grew to 50 feet and caught Nita Ingrid and Koda.

"Phew..." Akito sighed from that. "Nice work, Micco!" he then called out.

Micco nodded as he carefully carried Nita, Ingrid, and Koda, though he was taken for a ride with the snow.

"Don't let go!" Estelle cried out as she held onto Roshan.

Micco did his best to climb back up through the snow to safely place the others to safety with Kenai and with his size, it was a piece of cake.

"We gotta get out of here," Estelle said as she held Roshan close. "It's getting stormy and very dangerous out here."

"Agreed." Teddy nodded.

"Estelle, take one of my hands." Akito told his twin sister.

Estelle then took his hand.

"Everybody else join hands with me." Akito then said.

Everyone else did just that.

"What are you--" Kenai was about to ask, but suddenly, they all teleported away together to find somewhere safer to go.

* * *

Once they were at someplace safer, they let go of each other's hands.

"Whew." Akito said as he stumbled back. "I guess that took a lot out of me."

"You gonna be okay?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah," Akito said. "Just a little worn out."

Micco soon lowered himself and carefully placed Nita, Ingrid, and Koda on the ground.

"Koda..." Kenai called.

Koda looked up to Kenai, looking still sad a bit.

"Koda, what would I have done if anything happened to you?" Kenai asked, both sternly and sadly.

"You're gonna leave me," Koda sniffled before he pointed towards Nita. "You said you missed being one of them."

"But Koda, Kenai would never leave you," Teddy said. "And besides, the Great Spirits wouldn't turn him back to human."

"How do you know?" Koda pouted.

"Trust me, I do," Teddy replied before looking at Kenai. "Isn't that right?"

Nita frowned softly as she decided to let Kenai and Koda talk with each other.

"You're going back with her, aren't you?" Koda pouted at Kenai.

Kenai looked low before he spoke again. "I do miss things, but you're my brother," he then told the bear cub. "I'll never leave you."

"Besides, what kind of brother would he be if he left you?" Ninetails asked.

"I'd never leave Akito." Vincent smiled.

"And I wouldn't leave you, Vince," Akito smiled back wearily. "...Even if you're kind of a wet blanket sometimes."

Vincent narrowed his eyes in deadpan from that before they shared a brotherly hug. Koda then decided to hug Kenai from that.

"Not ever." Kenai promised Koda.

* * *

After a little while, they soon continued their way to Hokani Falls.

Micco soon shrunk himself down, back to his normal size as they walked along. "We should stop soon," he then said as he looked up to the sky. "It'll be dark soon."

"Right." Akito nodded.

"Well, I guess it's time to stop for the night." Vincent said.

"Sounds good to me," Estelle said as she gave Roshan back to Ingrid. "Here you go, Ingrid. He was just a little angel."

"Thank you, Estelle, I appreciate this." Ingrid smiled as she took her little brother back.

"No problem." Estelle smiled back.

They soon decided to stop for the night as the Northern Lights came out into the sky. Vincent took out his notebook and decided to sketch a picture of that to paint for himself later as he liked how it looked.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rutt and Tuke were with the female moose as they watched the beautiful scenery.

"Ah, this show's giving me the munchies, eh?" Tuke smiled as he watched with the female moose. "Hey, little brother, how about you get us some twigs, eh?" he then asked Rutt.

"Okay." Rutt sniffled as he decided to get up and do that, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

"Are you crying?" The first female moose asked Rutt.

"No. I mean, well, yeah, but so what, eh?" Rutt replied emotionally. "These lights are so beautiful, eh? I..."

"Oh, he's sensitive." The second female moose said to her sister.

"Emotional depth." The first female moose said.

"It's beauty, eh?" The second female moose replied as she walked with her sister over to Rutt.

Tuke laughed a bit before he saw what was going on. "What?"

"He's a cute one, isn't he?" The first female moose smiled at her sister.

"Hey, I can be sensitive, too, eh?" Tuke glared from that.

"Ooh, I like your hooves." Rutt smiled at the second female moose.

"Really?" The first female moose asked.

"Yeah, and I'm a hoof man," Rutt smiled. "Yours are nice and shiny."

The two female moose beamed at that.

"Hoof man?" Tuke scoffed at himself. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"By the way, what are your names?" Rutt asked the two female moose.

"Oh, I'm Anda." The first female moose replied.

"And I'm Kata." The second female moose added.

"Oh, those are such lovely names." Rutt smiled at them.

"Oh, you're such a charmer." Kata smiled back.

Rutt smiled warmly as he sat in the middle as now Tuke was the one being left out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Micco led the way for the others as they looked for a place to stop for the night before he found a certain spot and decided to show it to Nita and Kenai. The two looked over to the wall to see a drawing of two people together which reminded them of a fond memory from their childhood and where the amulet came from.

"Ooh." Ninetails smiled.

Nita and Kenai shared a look as they continued on. Koda looked thoughtful about the picture before he went to catch up with the two.

"Hmm... That's an alright picture..." Vincent shrugged as he pet his Ninetails on the head.

"Don't worry," Akito smiled at Vincent. "You'll still always be our favorite artist."

"Yeah." Estelle added.

Vincent looked bashful from that before holding his hands up. "You're too kind... You're too kind..." he then told them. "I'm sure Jenny and I will invite you to a future Art Show of mine."

Akito and Estelle rolled their eyes playfully from that. 

Koda soon looked out to the lights in awe. "Is this the equinox?" he then asked as he stood between Kenai and Nita.

"Yeah, Koda, this is it." Kenai told his little brother.

The ice began to melt from the river. 

"The Great Spirits are bringing us Spring." Micco said from that.

"Sounds perfect," Akito replied. "That way I can do my morning jogs without Mom telling me to bundle up or to bring a sweater."

The snow also melted as the plants were shown and the trees were regrowing their leaves.

"Mine and Micco's mom us up there somewhere." Nita said softly.

"Mine too," Koda replied. "Do you and Micco miss yours?"

Micco let out a small sigh from that.

"Yes, but you don't need to wait for the lights to find her, Koda," Nita advised as she remembered something her father told her and Micco when their mother had passed away as she touched his heart. "She's always with you. In here."

"Once you love someone, they stay in your heart forever." Micco added before he and Nita then hugged Koda.

"It's time." Kenai said softly.

Nita, Koda, and Micco hugged a bit harder from that and it was soon time to make a fire as they all sat together. Nita soon took off the amulet once the fire started to blow out and she looked at Kenai who looked a bit sad.

"Nita, wait, is this really what you want to do; after everything you've been through? After you've spent so much time with Kenai?" Estelle asked. "Nita, what is your heart telling you?"

"I have to burn it... So I can marry Atka..." Nita said emotionally as she got ready to toss her amulet into the fire.

"But do you _love_ him?!" Estelle asked. "That's the most important part in any marriage: love!"

"Of course I love Atka!" Nita replied. "Why would I marry him if I didn't love him?"

"Yes, but did you meet him and decide to get married to him?" Estelle asked. "Why are you marrying him?"

"He's from another village and my father thought it would be good for me if I married Atka since he's a strong and brave warrior!" Nita defended.

"But what does your heart tell you? The heart always has the answer." Estelle told her.

"I'm sorry, Estelle... But it has to be this way..." Nita said as she put the amulet into the fire.

"But it doesn't have to be!" Estelle cried out before frowning in disappointment. "...Oh, Nita."

Kenai and Koda soon watched as the amulet began to burn from the flames and soon, the amulet was completely burned. 

"Nita..." Estelle frowned. "It didn't have to be like that."

"You'll understand when you're my age," Nita told her. "It's for the best."

Felicity soon held Estelle as her younger cousin looked very sad with Nita's decision. The lights soon disappeared into the sky once the deed was done.

 _'But I know that I'm right, she doesn't love Atka; I can tell that she's in love with Kenai.'_ Estelle thought to herself.

Felicity gently stroked Estelle's hair.

"Thank you, Felicity," Estelle said. "You seem to live up to Aunt Cherry's Element of Empathy."

"I'm so sorry about this," Felicity said softly before looking at Nita. "I can't believe you didn't listen to Estelle."

"You're just kids," Nita told them. "This will all make sense when you're all grown up."

Micco understood that the Fudo cousins were just kids, but they seemed to know more about what was right than Nita did.

"Koda, you be good, okay?" Nita cooed as she hugged Koda. "You're such a sweet little cub."

"Nita, I'm gonna miss you." Koda told her softly.

But Nita just seemed to hear growls and roars like any other person would when talking to an animal. "Oh, the spell." she then frowned once she couldn't understand the bear cub.

"That's right, when the amulet was burned, the spell wore off," Ingrid said. "Now neither you or Micco can understand Kenai or Koda or any of the animals or Pokemon."

"You know about that too?" Nita asked.

"I know a lot that a lot of others do not." Ingrid replied wisely.

"Well, we better get going." Micco said softly.

"Yes... You better go..." Ingrid replied.

"Goodbye, Nita." Kenai said softly.

"Goodbye..." Nita added as she decided to get up and go with Micco.

Kenai and Koda soon began to go on their own. Estelle felt devastated about Nita's decision as she decided to join Kenai and Koda with her brothers, friend, and cousin, along with their Pokemon. Nita and Micco soon walked away from Hokani Falls once the deed was done so that Nita could marry Atka, though Micco felt like this was wrong for his sister even if she thought she should go with tradition with marrying Atka and they were soon greeted by their people. Micco frowned as it was hard for him to keep what he felt on the inside with Nita's decision, especially in leaving Kenai. Chief Chiltook smiled as he soon came up to his children and hugged them once they came back home. They soon walked into the village so then Nita could get ready for the wedding.


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, Kenai stared into the water and poked his paw into the water as the salmon swam by, carefreely. Ingrid seemed to be sitting and talking with a panther while the others just sat around, not sure of what to do.

"Does this mean we fail the adventure?" Felicity frowned.

"...Maybe Nita and Micco will come turn around..." Akito spoke up. "...They _have_ to..."

"Maybe." Vincent said.

"I know that Estelle's right." Ingrid told the Panther.

"I'm sure she is, you are wise and powerful in your own way," The panther told Ingrid. "And I should know about power."

"So you have the Element of Power?" Ingrid asked.

"Yes, I do," The panther replied. "My name is Koi."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Ingrid smiled.

"A pleasure to meet you as well," Koi replied. "I should also warn you."

"Yes?" Ingrid asked.

"It may be a bit hard to find Alya the Bear," Koi advised as he gave her his mark. "She may be where you would very least expect her to be, but I cannot tell you of where she is."

"I understand." Ingrid nodded.

"You're doing very well," Koi told Ingrid. "The Great Spirits really appreciate it."

"Thank you, Koi," Ingrid said as she hugged the panther. "This has been a big adventure and experience for all of us, even if Nita made the wrong choice as I feel she would be better with Kenai than this Atka person."

Koi nodded before vanishing. Ingrid let out a small gasp, but stayed strong as she remembered what Koi had told her, along with the other animals she had met so far, except for the bear she had yet met who was supposed to be the final piece to her puzzle.

"Kenai?" Koda soon spoke up as he sat beside his big brother. "Did you give Nita the amulet because you loved her?"

Kenai heaved a sharp sigh before answering that question. "It was a long time ago."

"We can tell that you still love her." Vincent told Kenai.

Kenai glanced back softly.

"And there's nothing wrong with that." Vincent then continued softly.

"Yeah, she's still with you, in here," Koda said as he put his paw to Kenai's heart. "I can tell."

"It doesn't work that way." Kenai sighed.

"Well, if you do love her, shouldn't you tell her?" Koda asked his big brother.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Kenai told him as he set down the bear cub, patting him on the head. "Anyway, it's over."

Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent began to look a little disappointed from that.

"Hey, I promised you we'd be the first two bears to Crowberry Ridge," Kenai then decided to change the subject. "Pinky swear, remember? How about first thing in the morning we rustle up some more berries? Sound good?" he then smiled at Koda before he decided to walk off.

"It can't end this way." Mismagius said.

"I don't wanna believe it." Kabutops replied.

Teddy pouted as he felt the most sad for Kenai's situation, especially since Koda was very down about it.

Koda climbed up to the rocks and he decided to have a little prayer to himself. "Mom, Kenai is so sad. It's all because of me," he then said. "I'll be okay on my own. Tell the spirits to change Kenai back so he can be happy." he then finished before he decided to walk off.

The Great Spirits heard Koda's request and knew that it wouldn't be wise to leave a bear cub alone and had a different idea.

"I'm sorry, Koda." Ingrid whispered softly.

Teddy, Kabutops, Ninetails, Tyraniter, and Mismagius frowned as they felt bad as well.

* * *

**_The next day..._ **

"Jeez, he's really out, eh?" Rutt's voice said as Kenai was still asleep before he slowly began to wake up.

"Yeah." Tuke's voice replied.

"Maybe we should throw some water on his face." Rutt suggested.

"Why don't you just stand there drooling, eh?" Tuke smirked at his brother. "That should do it."

"Trample off." Rutt scoffed from that.

"Hey I think I saw him move." Tuke said as he saw Kenai waking up.

Kenai began to slowly wake up before seeing his two moose friends.

"Rise and shine, Bear Boy!" Tuke smiled.

"Yeah, not time to 'hydroplane' yet, eh?" Rutt added.

"It's _hibernate_ , you hoofer." Tuke corrected his brother.

"That's what I said." Rutt shrugged.

Kenai groaned as he soon sat up and started to wake up for the day.

"Hey, we saw Smallish Bear and the humans and their Pokemon friends last night, eh?" Tuke said.

"Yeah, we tried to stop them, eh? But they wouldn't listen to us." Rutt added.

"What?" Kenai asked. "Where were they going?"

"Uh... Oh. To get Nita, eh?" Tuke replied. "Smallish Bear said he was gonna bring her back for you and the others went with him."

"Bring her back?" Kenai asked before knowing where to go. "No, no. If he steps foot in the village, the hunters will get him." he then panicked for his little brother as he dashed off.

"Aw, gee..." Rutt and Tuke said together in concern as Anda and Kata came beside them.

* * *

In Nita and Micco's village, it was time to get the wedding back on track. Micco sighed to himself as he sat in his space while Nita was getting ready with the help of their aunts and where they were in their usual arguing antics.

"Almost there." Siqiniq said.

"And now for the final touch, a beautiful bead necklace." Taqqiq smiled as she brought out a bead necklace to her niece.

"Oh, no, you don't. Not this time," Siqiniq argued as she brought out a shell necklace. "This is much more appropriate."

"Yeah, and that doesn't match anything she's wearing." Taqqiq glared.

"And what makes you think those beads do?" Siqiniq scoffed.

The two decided to stop arguing before they brought out their necklaces to their niece to cheer her up.

"Nita, what would make you happy?" Taqqiq soon asked.

Nita sighed softly and turned away from her aunts as she just felt too low to answer them and where both of the aunts could tell she wasn't happy.

"Once again, we are ready," Chief Chiltkoot smiled as he came to see his daughter. "Are you, my daughter?"

Siqiniq and Taqqiq looked concerned as they came beside the father of the bride.

"Yes, Father." Nita replied without looking at him.

Chief Chiltkoot could tell there was something wrong since his daughter didn't sound happy. Siqiniq and Taqqiq looked concerned as well, but Chief Chiltkoot made them go wait outside so he could sit and talk with Nita. "I would expect a bride to be smiling on her wedding day," The man said softly to his daughter. "Is there something wrong?"

Nita sighed as she looked up at him. "Daddy, I'm so confused," she then explained. "I thought that when I burned the amulet, the bond would be broken, but in my heart, I..." she then touched her heart as she started to see that Estelle was right before. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I can't marry Atka."

"Nita..." Chief Chiltkoot started.

A high-pitched scream was soon heard which startled both Nita and her father.

"There are a couple of bears in the village!" A woman's voice cried out.

Nita, Micco, and Chief Chiltkoot poked their heads out as the villagers panicked.

* * *

"Calm down!" Akito's voice called out. "They're not gonna hurt you!"

"Yeah!" Estelle's voice added.

A group of village kids began to chase after a familiar-looking bear cub.

"Koda?" Nita asked once she saw the bear which was one she knew all too well. "Wait! Wait, don't hurt him." she then cried out.

Koda soon ran through baskets of fish, knocking them down on the ground.

"No, our fish!" Another villager called out.

"Koda, this way!" Teddy called out to the bear cub.

Koda then rushed over to the Ursaring while the villagers tried to catch him.

"This is not good." Ninetails said.

Teddy soon brought Koda over and they ran off together as the villagers tried to get them both.

"Teddy, please be careful." Estelle whispered, even though her Pokemon was a full-grown Ursaring, she still worried about him, like when he was a shy, quiet little Teddiursa.

"Congratulations, Sis, you've now become an official mom." Akito remarked.

* * *

The villagers still chased Teddy and Koda before they climbed up a tree out of fear and desperation. Teddy soon tried to think of which attack to use out of fear.

"Oh, guys!" Estelle yelped as she began to run out.

"Estelle!" The others cried out.

"Stop it!" Estelle cried out as she ran towards the tree to save Koda and Teddy, feeling like a protective mother, especially for her Pokemon. "They're just little bears! They never did anything to you!"

"Little? Have you seen the size of one of those bears?" One of the villagers asked.

"Just please stop!" Estelle cried out.

"Don't make me use my Fury Swipes!" Teddy threatened as he sat with Koda as the villagers tried to get them since they were wild bears.

"What do we do?" Mismagius asked.

Feb 16"Think... Think... Think..." Akito stopped to himself.

Eventually, the villagers felt more scared as they ran off just as Kenai rushed out with a roar.

"Okay, Koda, get ready to jump!" Teddy told his friend as they sat in the tree as he knew what Kenai was doing.

"Okay!" Koda replied.

Kenai soon ran through the village, scaring away some villagers until he came to the tree.

"Go!" Teddy then told Koda before they both hopped down and the bear cub ended up on Kenai's back.

"Teddy!" Estelle cried out before she hugged her Ursaring with relief.

"Get your spears!" Atka soon told the other men from the village as they ran towards Kenai.

"This is really bad." Estelle said.

They soon heard two familiar words shouted out.

"Looks like we might get a helping hand." Akito then told Estelle.

"Don't worry, bears," Micco vowed as he grew in size yet again. "I'll help you out of here."

Kenai and Koda were happy to see Micco.

"Hey! What the...?" Atka gasped.

"Step off of those bears!" Micco glared as he began to protect Kenai and Koda.

"Micco, are you insane?" Atka asked.

"Maybe these bears don't want to hurt you," Micco firmly told Atka. "I won't let you hurt them."

"Then you're a traitor to your people for defending the animals like this," Atka glared. "Maybe you should go too."

"Good luck trying to beat me," Micco glared back. "Especially if you wish to marry my sister."

"And besides you'd have a hard time beating him when he's that size." Vincent told Atka.

"Are you working with the bears too?" Atka glared.

"Working with the bears?" Vincent repeated. "You're talking crazy, man!"

"I don't see why you should defend wild animals that could hurt and kill you," Atka replied firmly. "They deserve to die."

"No, they don't!" Estelle told him.

Kenai and Koda soon took their time to get away once Micco began to keep them safe.

"You will not hurt the animals," Ingrid narrowed her eyes. "Not when I'm around. Roshan, stay safe."

Roshan then scooted away as his big sister soon stomped out firmly towards Atka.

"I've been with the animals for a long time," Ingrid glared. "My best friends are a mammoth, sloth, and saber-tooth tiger and I won't let you hurt them ever again."

'Whoa, I've never seen Ingrid like this.' The Fudo siblings thought to themselves.

"Back away, little girl." Atka told Ingrid.

"You'll have to fight me if you want those bears if that's what you really want." Ingrid challenged as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Akito and the others were surprised to hear Ingrid challenge Atka.

"Micco, I must help you help the animals and our friends." Ingrid decided.

"You sure, kid?" Micco asked her.

"Yes, there's a lot more to me than meets the eye," Ingrid replied. "Especially in the safety and rights for wild animals."

"Alright." Micco nodded.

"Atka, you are no better than a mighty predator if you wish to hunt for sport and not care about the animal in danger." Ingrid glared.

"I don't want to have to fight a child, but you're not making any sense," Atka glared back. "We're hunters, we hunt animals to survive. You will understand when you're older."

 _'Yeah and killing an animal he thinks is dangerous without actually knowing about them makes so much sense.'_ Akito thought to himself sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Atka," Ingrid said firmly as her eyes seemed to flash yellow. "But I might have to ask you to leave."

Akito gasped a bit from the eye color change.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Estelle asked her twin brother.

"That that reminds you of when we helped Balto and Aleu and we first met Ingrid?" Akito guessed.

"Then I believe we have the same thought," Estelle replied. "After all, we are twins."

"True." Akito nodded.

"I'm sorry, Atka, but you can't hunt these animals," Ingrid glared. "Even if it means you have to kill me too."

"I know you wouldn't kill a child... You wouldn't harm one... If you do, you're no better than the predators you dislike," Micco told Atka. "And you would never be a proper fit for my sister with that kind of attitude."

 _'He's right.'_ Vincent thought to himself.

"It's your choice, Atka," Ingrid glared. "You can kill us and kill the bears which makes you more of a monster than any of the animals, or you can sit down and think about what you're doing and maybe think that not all bears are bad news and neither are the animals."

The Spirit Animals soon seemed to come beside Ingrid from that, except for the bear who she had not yet met.

 _'I hope he makes the right choice.'_ Felicity thought to herself.

Atka just narrowed his eyes at Ingrid. Ingrid glared back.

Micco soon shrunk down before coming to the kids. "Where did Kenai and Koda go?" he then asked them.

"I think they ran far into the forest," Estelle frowned. "They must be scared to death of Atka."

"We better go check on them." Akito said.

The group soon ran off after Kenai and Koda while Ingrid would take care of Atka. Unfortunately, there were still other hunters after Kenai and Koda.

"Wait, you guys!" Nita called out to the kids which made them stop and look over to see her. "I'm coming with you!"

"Alright." Estelle nodded with a smile.

"Let's go then." Micco told his sister.

"Yes." Nita agreed.

"Oh, Ingrid, Kabutops, be careful." Felicity whispered as they ran off then.

* * *

Kenai and Koda began to try to climb away from the hunters. The hunters glared and one of them soon threw a spear against Kenai's back as they climbed up a rock wall together and where that caused Kenai to growl and glare at the hunters.

"Follow me!" One of the hunters roared out while climbing up the rock wall.

Kenai soon shoved down a boulder from the rock wall to make the hunters go away, but they dodged it as they climbed up as carefully as they could. Kenai and Koda soon made it up to the top of the wall and began to run, but there was a dead-end which was bad news for them. Kenai soon took Koda over to a perfect place to hide him.

"Please stop this!" Estelle cried out.

"Ah, Estelle." Akito frowned in concern for his sister's unhappiness.

"Stay low." Kenai whispered to Koda as he hid his little brother before running off.

"Kenai." Koda frowned.

One hunter grabbed a torch and began to go after Kenai as he went to find someplace himself to hide.

"This can't be good for the Great Spirits." Akito said as he climbed with the others.

"Atka should stop them." Vincent replied hopefully.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like he would be crazy enough to keep on with hunting Kenai and Koda." Felicity said. She then yelped as she nearly fell.

"Gotcha!" Akito said as he took her hand.

"Oh... Thank you..." Felicity sighed in relief. "You guys are just like my own brothers and sister... Even if we are cousins."

"That's true." Vincent nodded.

"Akito, are we almost to Kenai and Koda?" Felicity soon asked.

"Yeah, I think I see them up ahead." Akito replied.

"That's good and at least none of the hunters have found them yet." Felicity said.

"Come on, this way." Akito gestured.

They all soon ran off together to go look for Kenai or Koda before the hunters would kill them and where, unfortunately, the hunters caught up.

"Oh, no..." The young group groaned to themselves.

"I'll hunt you and skin your fur off to make a nice rug for my home so I can make Atka proud," The hunter glared. "People will know the name Long Shadow."

"Long Shadow...?" Estelle repeated. "...Akito, isn't that a name from one of the other Justice Leagues aside from the Super Friends?"

Akito soon took out his cards to check. "Yeah, you're right!" he then said. "I can't believe it! Apache Chief and Long Shadow are both from ancient times!"

"But that's impossible," Vincent said. "How could both of them be from ancient times, now Apache Chief that makes sense, but Long Shadow? No way."

"I dunno..." Akito replied. "But I feel like we might get an answer sometime later."

"Right now, we better stop Long Shadow." Estelle suggested.

"Right!" The others replied in a Power Rangers fashion.

* * *

Long Shadow soon went looking for Kenai and Koda, holding his torch close. Koda then hid away as he saw Long Shadow coming his way which startled him. Luckily, Long Shadow didn't see him as he went further focusing on finding Kenai. Koda soon wandered out once he thought the coast was clear.

"There you are!" A hunter's voice said as he grabbed a hold of the bear cub.

Koda yelled out and struggled. Teddy growled at that as Koda roared out for help.

"Uh-oh." The other Pokemon gulped.

Teddy growled as he came towards the hunters.

"Teddy, no!" Estelle cried out for her Pokemon.

The hunters smirked at Teddy as he came to them.

Akito soon saw something before smirking a bit before smirking at the hunters. "I wouldn't touch that cub or that, uh, big bear if I were you!" he then called out to them with high confidence.

"Oh, yeah?" The first hunter smirked back.

"And why not?" The second hunter added.

"Because I think they might be unhappy about that." Akito replied.

"Who's they?" The hunters asked.

Akito then pointed up bravely. The two hunters soon looked up to see Rutt and Tuke looking angry and protective as they showed up before the hunters got nervous and decided to let Koda go. Rutt and Tuke soon jumped off from where they were and landed on two branches. The group winced a bit from that as that didn't go as smoothly as planned, but luckily, it would get better.

"Nice move, eh?" Tuke glared at Rutt.

"Gee, eh?" Rutt replied.

The branches then broke off with them on it before landing on top of the two hunters and trapping them.

"Our heroes." The two female moose smiled.

Rutt and Tuke laughed at that as they shared a high-hoof with each other.

"Come on!" Koda called out as he crawled onto Tuke's back. "We have to find Kenai!"

"Wait for us!" The group called out as they went after the bear cub and group of moose.

Kenai kept going until looking back to see he was still being followed and soon made his way through a narrow path.

Long Shadow looked around and soon crawled out as he came after Kenai. "This will probably make Atka respect me... It'll make everybody respect me..." he told himself as he went after the bear. "And no bunch of kids and mutants are gonna stop me."

Kenai soon hopped all around to get away from Long Shadow as he felt scared.

* * *

Eventually, back with the others, it looked as though Ingrid was able to talk Atka down into not hunting or killing.

"I had no idea how insightful you were..." Atka said to Ingrid. "I suppose you and Micco are right."

"Well, animals have feelings just like we do; they care for their families." Ingrid said.

"I... I'm sorry..." Atka said softly. "...But what if they hurt us first?"

"I'm afraid we can't help nature, but maybe when someone who cares and loves animals tries to tell you something, you should listen to them." Ingrid replied.

The Spirit Animals all smiled from that as they felt proud of Ingrid, especially Tokala.

"This may not look good for Long Shadow then." Atka said to her and Micco.

"We have to stop him." Micco said before shouting. "'Ineck Chock'!"

Ingrid looked up as Micco grew in size. Micco then bent down and held out his hand for the girl.

"Thank you for listening, Atka." Ingrid said as she climbed into the giant man's hand.

Atka nodded from that as Micco decided to walk off with her in his hold as they went after the others to go help Kenai and Koda.


	9. Chapter 9

And where it seemed that Kenai would need help as he would have a rough landing. Long Shadow soon caught up with Kenai who looked scared and stuck on where to go. The hunter then brought out his fiery torch and threw it towards the trapped bear. Kenai yelped from the fire and backed up before Long Shadow soon dropped down on the ledge and held his spear against the bear's neck as the fire began to spread. Nita soon arrived at where the narrow path leading to Kenai and Long Shadow were. Kenai growled as he did his best to hold his own against Long Shadow.

"KENAI!" Nita soon cried out and went as quickly as she could to where she heard her childhood best friend.

Kenai growled as he soon began to power over Long Shadow, pressing him down with his own spear to flat on the ground.

"No, don't!" Nita called out.

Kenai soon looked over and looked soft once he saw his childhood best friend. Nita breathed heavily as she looked very devastated. Long Shadow soon took his torch and threw it in Kenai's face which made him growl out of pain before he then got punched by the vigorous hunter. And where he would have had a rough landing only for Kenai to land on the palm of a familiar giant hand.

"You okay, Kenai?" Micco asked.

"You came back." Kenai said to him and Ingrid once he saw her with Kabutops.

"Of course we did," Ingrid replied. "Atka listened to me, but it might be difficult for Long Shadow."

"You helped the bear too?!" Long Shadow complained to Micco. "What is wrong with you people? If we don't kill them, they kill us first!"

Ingrid soon knew what Micco was going to do to Long Shadow.

"I'm afraid it's time for you to go." Micco soon told Long Shadow.

"What're you gonna do?" Long Shadow asked. "You're gonna kill me?"

"I wouldn't stoop to your level," Micco glared as he lowered Ingrid, Kabutops, and Kenai to safety where Nita was. "I just think you should stay far away from the village for a while..." And so, he soon flicked Long Shadow far away which would land him in the Antarctic Ocean. Little did anyone know, he would be there for a while.

"Are you okay, Kenai?" Micco asked.

Kenai rubbed his eyes, but he smiled a bit since he was saved.

"You see?" Ingrid asked Atka. "That could've been you. We all did you a favor and you shouldn't hurt Kenai."

"Kenai?" Atka replied. "That bear was Kenai?"

"I guess you haven't heard about that, but yes," Ingrid said. "And then Nita would've hated you."

"Being hated isn't exactly what anyone would want." Vincent said.

"He does have a point though, animals can get dangerous." Atka replied.

"You just have to look at them differently instead of just blindly killing," Estelle advised. "There are some bad animals like bad people and us people can look bad to the animals, especially with spears or any other kind of weapons."

Atka looked a bit thoughtful from that. Micco soon put Kenai down with Koda as the two brother bears began to embrace each other. Nita soon went to check on Kenai.

"He's not terribly hurt, but he's scorched a bit in the face from the flames." Ingrid told Nita.

"Oh... Oh, Kenai..." Nita said emotionally to her childhood best friend.

Nita soon made it to Kenai. Kenai looked up at her and let out a small growl, though of course, Nita couldn't hear him talking like the others who could talk to animals, mainly Akito and the others.

"I can't..." Nita cried to Kenai. "I don't understand. I'm sorry."

Kenai then held out his paw for Nita and she put her hand against his paw before her hand moved to his chest and right to his heart as she seemed to have an idea of what he was trying to tell her.

"I love you, too." Nita told Kenai sadly before she then leaned in and began to hug him.

The Great Spirits soon appeared.

"The Spirits..." The kids whispered to each other a bit.

Chief Chiltkoot soon stepped out to find his children before he saw what was happening.

"What're they doing here?" Kenai wondered.

"Kenai, I can understand you." Nita then told her childhood best friend.

"I-I asked the spirits to turn you back into a man." Koda told Kenai.

"Oh, Koda..." Ingrid said softly from that.

"So you could be with Nita." Koda then continued to Kenai.

"No, Koda." Kenai replied softly.

"It's okay," Koda smiled as he nuzzled up against Kenai. "I just want you to be happy again."

"Nita, I can't." Kenai told her softly.

Nita looked over as she soon began to have an idea. "But _I_ can." she then told her childhood best friend.

Kenai looked surprised when he heard Nita say that.

"Am I the only one that hears these bears speaking?" Chief Chiltkoot asked as he came to the scene with wide wonder.

"Yeah, that's beauty, eh?" Tuke replied, much to the man's shock.

"How's it going, eh?" Rutt added.

"Father." Nita beamed before she ran up to the man and hugged him instantly.

"Is this what you want? Will this make you happy?" Chief Chiltkoot asked Nita once they separated from the hug.

Nita nodded once, a bit emotional, but she did want this.

"Whatever makes you happy," Micco smiled from that. "I know that Mother would want you to be happy too."

"You are my daughter and I will love you no matter what you choose." Chief Chiltkoot smiled at Nita before they hugged briefly again.

* * *

Nita soon walked under the light of the Great Spirits. Ingrid had her friends and their Pokemon wait as this moment seemed important. Micco soon shrunk down as he wiped his eyes emotionally, but he kept a smile for his sister's happiness. The Great Spirits soon danced around as the animals were shown and the lights became more light and colorful as Nita was levitated above the ground as something magical began to happen like when Kenai first became a bear. And once she was changed into a bear, the Great Spirits gently put her back where she stood before going over to Micco. Micco came forward as it seemed to be time for something.

"You are a very good brother and a wonderful hero to your village, you shall be rewarded graciously." The Great Spirit told Micco.

"Yes, thank you, but I don't know what you could do for me," Micco bowed loyally as he spoke with great respect. "Thank you very much though."

"You are very welcome," The Great Spirit replied. "You shall be given a very special gift... You will become a brave and great hero... But at a very high cost if you should wish to continue with your reward."

Micco looked to his sister and father and friends before looking to the great spirits and nodding to them.

"You have made a confirmed decision then..." The Great Spirits then said. "Know that because of your efforts, you shall become immortal, you may even outlive your family, but you will make the world a better place in all the years you become a brave new hero as your grandfather saw in you from your birth."

"I understand." Micco decided.

"Then so be it... You shall be known to people everywhere as Apache Chief." The Great Spirits then said as they gained Micco the gift of immortality, as well as a new look as he appeared on his Super Friends' trading card and anywhere else that anyone had seen him.

Ingrid smiled, happy for Nita and Micco.

"This is so cool," Akito beamed to himself as he hugged his trading cards of the Super Friends. "I'd ask for his autograph, but maybe later if we ever get to meet the Super Friends in the past."

The others chuckled a bit from Akito's fanboy behavior.

"This is nice... Even though I was unable to find the bear for my special abilities..." Ingrid softly said to herself.

"But I'm right here... I was always there... Especially for one special little cub." A female voice said before a bear spirit came out.

"Mom!" Koda gasped once he saw who the spirit resembled which was no ordinary bear.

Akito and the others went jaw-dropped as Koda's mother was the bear spirit that Ingrid was looking for.

"I am Ayla," Koda's mother told Ingrid. "I represent love, courage, physical strength, and leadership."

"That makes so much sense..." Ingrid said to her.

"Yes, and I knew you would help take very good care of my boy," Ayla smiled tearfully before looking at her son. "Koda, I've missed you so much, and I'm glad that you have your very own big brother to look after you."

"I am too, Mom." Koda smiled back.

They shared a brief hug together. Ingrid's whole body seemed to glow as all of the Spirit Animals that Ingrid had met during the adventure showed up as the Great Spirits did one last job before they would leave everyone else in peace. After a few moments, Ingrid soon came back down and she wore an amulet of her own and she held it out a bit curiously before she seemed to shape-shift into different kinds of animals as the Spirit Animals all smiled at her.

"Ingrid, my dear," Tokala said to the girl. "You have reached your true destiny like Micco and Nita."

"I have?" Ingrid asked.

"Yes, you have," Tokala smiled. "I always knew you were destined for greatness and I was right."

Ingrid beamed as she hugged the fox while enjoying her new power.

"You can now help the animals and your friends even more this way," Tokala told Ingrid proudly. "I know you'll do the right thing for everybody."

Ingrid smiled after hearing that.

* * *

The next day, a wedding was now being held.

"Nita?" Kenai asked his childhood best friend.

"How do I look?" Nita smiled as she adjusted to her new form.

"Like a bear, except they gave you antlers." Kenai replied.

Nita looked startled. "What?!"

Suddenly, Kenai and Koda laughed together with the kids a bit.

"Gotcha!" Kenai laughed.

At the wedding, the bears and humans joined together as it was a very special wedding as Nita began to step out, among the two crowds as they all looked joyous for the occasion as she was going to marry somebody else on her wedding day and that was her best friend. Regardless of the situation, everybody felt very happy for Nita and Kenai, and where everyone was at the wedding, even the raccoons. Kenai and Nita smiled at each other before they nuzzled each other's noses.

Koda looked just as thrilled and excited as he was going to have a sister, though technical sister-in-law, but still. A female bear cub looked bashful towards Koda as she was with her mother and brother. Koda looked over to the female bear cub before smiling and waving at her. The female bear cub looked back before waving back at him.

"Glad to see you could make it." Tug smiled at the mother bear.

"The cubs insisted that we come here," The mother bear smiled back. "Plus the cubs really missed their Uncle Tug."

"We really did." The male bear cub smiled.

"Tug, who are these bears?" Koda asked as he came by. "I haven't seen them around the Salmon Run before."

"Koda, hello there, this is my sister, Nana," Tug replied. "And those are her cubs: Nikomi and Chinook."

The female cub named Nikomi looked bashful around Koda.

"I've been migrating for a while and I thought that my cubs could use some new friends," Nana smiled warmly at Koda. "You seem nice, young cub."

"He sure is." Tug nodded.

"Hey." Koda smiled at his possible new friends.

Chinook and Nikhomi smiled back as this looked like the start of a wonderful friendship.

* * *

"I love happy endings, eh?" Rutt smiled at his brother.

"I love happy endings, too." Tuke smiled back.

"And happy beginnings." Anda smiled as she nuzzled up to Rutt while Kata nuzzled up to Tuke.

The raccoon leader soon playfully threw a pinecone on Kenai's head while the other raccoons tossed flower petals. The raccoons all laughed from that as they all celebrated the bond of Nita and Kenai while Koda felt the most excited. Innoko stood by with a smile and even winked as she knew this would happen and where the Great Spirits made their way to Hokani Falls to make a new drawing appear. It appeared to be Kenai and Nita's childhood picture together, but now both with them as bears. The group smiled at each other with their Pokemon as this was a proud day and not just for Kenai and Nita. The group was soon back at their own timeline. 

"Goodbye and thank you very much my friends." Ingrid whispered as she sat with Kabutops and Roshan as this was a happy ending.


	10. Chapter 10

The group soon came back home with their Pokemon after quite the adventure spent together.

"Well, it sure was nice to see Kenai and Koda again." Estelle smiled as she pet Teddy on his head.

"Sure was." Teddy smiled back.

"I still can't believe we saw Apache Chief from the Super Friends," Akito said as he sorted out his trading cards. "That's pretty amazing."

"Oh, for sure," Vincent agreed. "I wonder if it'll happen for any of the other heroes?"

"Hard to say, but it was still quite an experience," Akito smiled. "Can't wait for the next adventure. I feel so pumped!"

"Yeah, I do too, like the whole house is shaking." Felicity smiled back.

Akito soon put his cards away as they had another fun adventure together and they all spent the rest of their time just hanging out until they would find something else to do and that's when they began to feel the same thing Felicity felt along with the sounds of giant foot-steps.

"Huh, you were right, Flick," Akito soon said. "I thought that was just my excitement."

"We should probably check that out." Mismagius suggested.

And so, the four kids rushed outside of the house with their Pokemon to see the source of the giant foot-steps and felt just as surprised to see a giant pair of feet. 

"It's not Uncle Paul..." Akito said.

"It's not a Cyclops attacking the city." Estelle added.

"It's someone else we met in the past." Vincent remarked.

"Apache Chief?!" Felicity soon asked.

Apache Chief looked down to see a familiar group he met years ago before shrinking down to human size.

"Hey, look who it is!" Akito beamed before taking out his card. "...Can I have your autograph?"

Apache Chief chuckled from that as he took the card and signed it. "Sure."

Akito began to look so excited that Apache Chief was actually with them.

"So, uh, Mr. Apache Chief, what brings you here?" Felicity asked.

"I thought I'd come visit to say a very special thank you from you all for what you had done." Apache Chief replied with a warm smile.

"You're welcome." Estelle smiled back.

"How did you know where and when to come see us though?" Vincent asked.

"I had a very special dream that led me here," Apache Chief told them. "Your family may even know my descendant named Mark from when they were with the Scooby-Doo gang."

"Oh, yeah..." Akito memorized. "He's that one leader of the Speed Buggy gang."

"Exactly," Apache Chief replied. "You all would make great Super Friends yourselves."

"Ooh." The Fudo cousins smiled.

"Well, we were Loonatics for a while." Felicity smirked a bit.

"You could be a great fit for the Super Friends team," Apache Chief told Akito. "Of course, they don't call it that anymore."

"Yeah," Felicity replied. "My mother thought that name was cheesy. I guess that's why they just called themselves the Justice League then."

"Good times," Apache Chief sighed from that. "The hero life isn't easy."

"True." Akito nodded.

"We can imagine and we know from our own experience," Estelle replied. "Maybe we could have a mission altogether sometime..."

"Maybe," Apache Chief smiled. "It's just so good to see you kids. I could tell from the moment Nita and I met you that you were something special, like when Nita first met Kenai when they were little kids."

"We sure are," Vincent smiled before remembering what he told Akito. "And do you think you and Akito could have a rematch?"

Akito looked over and looked a bit hopeful.

"Hmm... I suppose we could arrange for that." Apache Chief smirked.

"Wahoo!" Akito cheered.

"And knowing Uncle Atticus, he should be coming out right about now." Felicity said.

"He should be out soon," Akito replied. "He had a phone call with a new detective colleague to meet up with."

"Detective Charlie Chan and his 10 kids?" Felicity guessed.

"No, someone new," Akito said. "Some guy named Steve Burns from somewhere called Blue Prints."

"Cool." Estelle smiled.

"...Wait a second," Vincent smirked. "Isn't that a baby show?"

The others looked at him.

"Steve? Blue? Clues?" Vincent smirked. "It sounds like a cartoon to be honest with ya."

"I'm not sure if my new colleague would appreciate that remark, son," Atticus smirked back as he soon came outside to see the kids. "He sounds like the next Dick Tracy if you ask me. You're probably all too young to remember the name Dicky Tracy though."

"So you must be Atticus Fudo AKA The Great Saiya Man." Apache Chief smirked back.

"Heh, that's me," Atticus replied. "Good to meet you, Apache Chief... And you seem to know my children and foster niece."

Apache Chief soon explained how he knew the children.

"Really...?" Atticus replied. "Sounds like you kids take after your parents more than we thought." he then chuckled a bit.

"Well, Akito does call us 'The Adventure Twins', especially when we had to leave the Loonatics." Estelle replied.

"That was a bit of a sad day, but it's great to keep in touch with those guys like when you and Lexi met that one girl and that whole Princess Power adventure you told me about." Akito smiled at his twin sister.

"That was a good time." Estelle beamed.

"Anyway, Akito and Apache Chief are about to have a rematch." Vincent told his father.

"You faced each other before?" Atticus asked Akito.

"Yes, Dad," Akito replied bashfully. "It was really cool."

"Well, this I have to see." Atticus beamed at his younger son.

"Although, the first time they faced each other was when we thought Apache Chief was a hunter." Estelle said.

"Well, at least you didn't cripple him." Atticus said to Akito.

"I try my best..." Akito said before he did some warm-ups. "Can you watch, Dad, or are you too busy?"

"I'll come watch this one match before I check my emails," Atticus smiled. "It'd be great to see my favorite strong kid in action."

"I'm your only strong kid." Akito smirked playfully while doing his warm-ups.

Atticus laughed a little from that as he came to sit down to watch with the others. Apache Chief soon decided to do his own warm-ups, back in a normal size so he wouldn't bother any of the neighbors. Once both Apache Chief and Akito were ready, they got in position.

"Ready? Okay! GO!" Estelle soon called out like a referee.

Apache Chief and Akito soon ran into each other as Akito grabbed a hold of the older man with a grin and soon began to pull him down, making him crash and hit the ground at first. Apache Chief soon felt Akito pin him down before he smirked.

"Uh-oh, I forgot about--" Akito started.

"Ineck Chock." Apache Chief then said.

"Oh, come on, that's not fair!" Akito complained. "You can't do that to me!"

Apache Chief soon grew to his 50 foot size and was about to grab Akito only to miss him as Akito flew up and around to show Apache Chief he had powers too.

"That was so not cool," Akito glared while in flight. "But if you wanna play hard ball, I'll play hard ball."

"Oh, yeah; this is going to be a super match." Estelle said.

"Maybe to call it even, I should eat a Saiya Bean." Akito smirked.

"There's no such thing." Apache Chief said to him.

"No, but maybe I could make one like a Sensu Bean." Akito replied.

"Clever." Vincent said.

Akito soon used his own magic to make him grow in size.

"Uh, you sure you wanna fight like this in that size around the neighborhood where everyone can see you?" Felicity spoke up in a deadpan way that was nearly reminiscent of her mother.

"Don't worry, we know a sleeping spell." Estelle said.

"Huh?" Felicity blinked.

"Please, let me cover it," Akito replied. "Emi taught it to me after all."

"Go ahead, Akito," Atticus smiled. "We should be fine through it then."

* * *

Akito nodded before he sang a sleeping spell in the style of a lullaby, but not just any lullaby, it was the song that came from the Pokemon known as Jigglypuff. The singing seemed to vibrate the whole neighborhood before everybody began to fall asleep at their homes.

"It worked." Felicity smiled.

"Now may we continue?" Akito asked.

"Go ahead." Atticus allowed.

Akito and Apache Chief nodded before Apache Chief grabbed Akito to throw him down once he had the chance.

"He's about to feel the wrath of Akito's full strength in 3, 2, 1." Atticus said.

"I'm afraid you're in trouble now, Chief." Akito glared from the ground.

"Oh, am I?" Apache Chief teased.

"Yep!" Akito replied as he soon jumped off of the ground and jumped high in the sky before shooting back down like a comet to take down the Native American superhero. "You're about to feel the wrath of Saiya Boy's amazing strength with a special move taught from my old friend: Slam Tasmanian!"

"We might wanna brace ourselves." Vincent suggested.

"Gee, ya think?" Felicity replied as that was obvious.

Akito soon did Slam's special move on Apache Chief. BOOM! The ground rumbled a bit and some hair was blown back as Atticus put his hand on his hat so it wouldn't blow away. Atticus then took out a camera to take a picture of that with a chuckle. Apache Chief was seen on the ground defeated.

"Did I win?" Akito asked.

"I think you did, Cousin." Felicity replied.

"Yep, you sure did." Apache Chief told Akito as he shrank down.

Akito then shrunk himself down before they shook hands to end the match.

"Your mother worry about you getting hurt even though she has nothing to worry about?" Apache Chief asked.

Akito nodded from that.

"Heh," Apache Chief chuckled. "Yeah, those feelings never go away from a mother... Reminds me of when my grandfather came to me and Nita to give me my special power that made me the man I am today."

"Ooh." The kids smiled.

"Well, thanks for taking care of them for me, Apache Chief," Atticus smiled at the Native American superhero. "I have a pretty demanding job, but luckily the kids keep busy with their adventures and sometimes I get to be there more... Even though I sorta had to lie about helping a very good friend of theirs with her brother."

"It was complicated," Akito looked sheepish. "I kinda got mad about that for a while."

"He even had to act like he was turning to the side of evil." Estelle said.

"Yeah... I was a little grumpy..." Akito pouted a bit.

"Couldn't have been worse to how I acted." Vincent remarked.

"Well, I'm glad you're both over it, because you seem like such nice, fine young men." Apache Chief replied.

"They sure are." Estelle smiled.

"And you two seem like very nice, fine young women." Apache Chief then told Estelle and Felicity.

"We try!" Estelle and Felicity smiled.

"They really do." Akito nodded.

"Well, it was good seeing you all," Apache Chief said. "I suppose I should get going."

"Alright, we'll see you around." Atticus said.

"See you around," Apache Chief nodded as he decided to get going. "Just don't forget to wake up those people in your neighborhood."

"Yeah, we will," Estelle giggled. "Later days, Apache Chief."

"Later days?" Apache Chief asked, feeling confused from that farewell gesture.

"That's just how kids say 'see you later' or 'goodbye' these days," Atticus chuckled. "See ya, Chief."

"Okay, well, later days then." Apache Chief then said as he waved to them before going away, back to where he came from.

Akito soon used a spell to wake everyone up.

"Good work," Atticus smiled at Akito. "Both in that spell and your match against Apache Chief. I feel like I haven't seen much of the Super Friends since we had, erm... Special new transfer students at school while Cherry joined that space program before we visited her with Mystery Inc... That's another story though." he then remarked.

"Tell us." The Fudo kids smiled.

"Oh, I will sometime," Atticus smiled back as they came back into the house. "You remember the Wonder Twins, right?"

"I've heard some stories." Felicity replied.

"Mom dressed these two up as the Wonder Twins when they were babies for Halloween." Vincent added as he gestured at Akito and Estelle.

"How'd you know that?" Estelle asked bashfully.

"Photo Album," Vincent chuckled. "You guys looked like Dipper and Mabel Pines from Dad's stories about Gravity Falls."

"You really did." Atticus told the fudo twins.

Akito and Estelle looked bashful about that.

"Zan and Jayna came to our school in disguise as new transfer students," Atticus then said. "Johan and Johanna Fleming from Esko, Sweden, but they actually came from Exxor and then we found out a special space mission that we had to take care of with Mystery Inc and even got Cherry to help out when she took time off to study at Space Camp to see if she would like it."

"Cool." Akito smiled.

"I'll tell you the full story sometime," Atticus smiled back. "Hopefully you enjoy it."

"I am sure that we will," Felicity replied. "I look forward to hearing about it."

They soon came inside to have an after adventure snack as Atticus went back to brief work in his home office. Apache Chief soon went back to where he came from before visiting the Fudo house as the story came to an end, unknowing that Long Shadow would make a reappearance in another story.

The End


End file.
